The Cincinnati Rollergirls is a women's flat track

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

league based in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

. Founded in 2005, the league currently consists of two teams which compete against teams from other leagues, and is a member of the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport of women's flat track roller derby, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Co ...

(WFTDA).

History and structure

The league was founded by Paula Estes and Christa Zielke in April 2005, wanting a new way to exercise. By the following year, they had enough skaters to form four teams: the Bloody Sundaes, Cincinnati Riots, Dames of Destruction and Full Metal Corsets. They played their first public bout in September 2006, selling out the 700-seat venue. By the following year, the league rationalized to two teams, and from 2008 it focused entirely on bouts against teams from other leagues. The league affiliated with the

(WFTDA) in 2007, and reached fourth place in its North Central Region by 2009. After playing its home games at the Cincinnati Gardens since 2006, where a 2011 high-water mark for attendance was 4100 fans, the league was forced to look for a new home when the Gardens was announced in 2016 to be slated for demolition. In February 2017 it was announced that the league was moving to the Schmidt Memorial Field House at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...

in time for its 2017 season. Cincinnati Rollergirls is a

limited liability corporation A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability o ...

with two teams; the Black Sheep is the league's A team, and its B team is the Violent Lambs.

WFTDA competition

For their first season as a WFTDA member in 2008, Cincinnati was placed in the East Region, and competed at that year's Eastern Regional Tournament as the 11th seed, and went 2-2 with victories against

Grand Raggidy Roller Girls Grand Raggidy Roller Derby is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 2005, the league is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History The league was founded as "Gra ...

and

Minnesota Rollergirls Minnesota Roller Derby (MNRD) is a flat track roller derby league based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. Founded in August 2004 as Minnesota RollerGirls by the Donnelly sisters, MNRD was one of the first 30 members of the Women's Fl ...

and losses against

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Charm City Roller Girls Charm City Roller Derby (CCRD), is a flat track roller derby league in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 2005, Charm City is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History and league structure The league was established in ...

to finish in ninth place. In 2009, now part of the North Central Region, Cincinnati was the fourth seed at the North Central Regional Tournament, and finished in fourth place with a 126-62 loss to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. The league started 2010 strongly, winning their first seven bouts against WFTDA opposition, leading to them being seeded fourth for the 2010 North Central Region Playoff,Justice Feelgood Marshall,
2010 North Central Regional Preview
, ''

Derby News Network Derby News Network (DNN), based in Baltimore, was an internet broadcast network, founded in 2007, which featured the women's skating sport of roller derby. DNN used the internet to collect remote streaming video Video on demand (VOD) is a med ...

'', 10 September 2010 where they again finished in fourth place, losing 164-143 to

Mad Rollin' Dolls Madison Roller Derby (MRD), founded as "Mad Rollin' Dolls", is a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 2004, Madison is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), and was the fou ...

.2010 North Central Region Playoffs Recaps
, ''

'', 24 September 2010 In the 2011 Playoffs, Cincinnati were seeded fifth, but ultimately took eighth place, after a 157-99 loss to

Brewcity Bruisers The Brewcity Bruisers is a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 2005, the league played their tenth season in 2016. The Bruisers are a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History ...

.Geoffrey Saucer,
North Central 7th Place: 7NC Brewcity Takes Down 5NC Cincinnati, 157-99
, ''

'', 9 October 2011 As the seventh seed at the 2012 North Centrals, Cincinnati lost their first two games but recovered to defeat

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, ...

180-166 to claim ninth place. In 2013, the WFTDA changed their playoff structure, and Cincinnati qualified for the WFTDA Division 1 International Playoff tournament in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the eighth seed, finishing in eighth with a 275-95 loss to

Wasatch Roller Derby Wasatch Roller Derby (WRD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founded in 2008, Wasatch is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History and organization Originally emerging from the ...

. After missing Playoffs in 2014 and 2015, Cincinnati returned to Playoffs at the WFTDA Division 2 level in 2016 as the fourth seed in Lansing, Michigan, where they went 1-3 and ultimately finished in eighth place after a 220-174 loss to the

Sac City Rollers Sacramento Roller Derby is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Sacramento, California. Originally two separate leagues founded in 2006, Sac City Rollers and Sacred City Derby Girls, who mutually announced a pending merger in late 20 ...

Rankings

*''NR'' = no end-of-year ranking supplied

References

{{Ohio Sports Sports teams in Cincinnati Roller derby leagues established in 2005 Roller derby leagues in Ohio 2005 establishments in Ohio