Wasatch Roller Derby (WRD) 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

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, t ...

. Founded in 2008, Wasatch 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 organization

Originally emerging from the

Salt City Derby Girls The Salt City Derby Girls (SCDG) Banked Track league was based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Formed in 2005,

, the league's formation was led by Lacey "Honey" Peterson and Brandi "Medusa" Olsen. The first public Wasatch bout was held April 25, 2009 at Hollywood Connection in West Valley City. Wasatch joined the

WFTDA Apprentice Program The Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice is the program affiliate of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). In operation from 2009 until early 2019, the Apprentice Program served to onboard new member leagues into the WFTDA. ...

in October 2009,Apprentice Leagues
, WFTDA ersion of 16 November 2009/ref> and were accepted as full WFTDA members in June 2010. By January 2012, they were described as the biggest league in Salt Lake City. In 2013 the WFTDA transitioned from a region based ranking system to an overall ranking system. WRD entered the new ranking at 20th in March 2013. The league founded the Wasatch Junior Rollers, a

junior roller derby Junior roller derby is the sport of roller derby, modified for children and adolescents up to 18 years of age. The sport is played in both modified-contact, known as "positional blocking," and full-contact approaches, to facilitate safety across m ...

team, and have close links with the co-ed MRDA league, Wasatch Men's Roller Derby. As of 2019, Wasatch Roller Derby features two home teams and one travel team. Wasatch Roller Derby regularly raises funds for charitable organizations including the

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comb ...

and the

American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes (including type 1 diabetes, ...

WFTDA competition

Wasatch first qualified for WFTDA Playoffs in 2012, as the ninth seed at the

WFTDA Western Regional Tournament The WFTDA Western Regional Tournament or WFTDA West Region Playoffs was one of four roller derby qualifying tournaments for the WFTDA Championships. The Tournament was organised by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). Full WFTDA memb ...

, where they finished in ninth place by defeating

Arizona Roller Derby Arizona Roller Derby is Arizona's first all female roller derby league. It was founded in 2003 making it one of the oldest resurgence roller derby leagues in America. Arizona Roller Derby, abbreviated as AZRD, is one of the founding members of th ...

245-134. In 2013, the WFTDA restructured its playoff system, and Wasatch qualified for Division 1 Playoffs in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

as the seventh seed, and finished in seventh place by beating

Cincinnati Rollergirls The Cincinnati Rollergirls is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Cincinnati, Ohio. 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 Tra ...

275-95. In 2014, Wasatch hosted a Division 1 Playoff at the

Salt Palace The Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center, more commonly known as the Salt Palace, is a convention center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Named after Utah's 11th governor, Calvin L. Rampton, the name "Salt Palace" was previously used by two ...

. WRD competed at the tournament as the eighth seed and finished in eighth place after losing to

No Coast Derby Girls The No Coast Roller Derby is a co-ed flat track roller derby league based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Founded in 2005, the league currently consists of two mixed teams which compete against teams from other leagues. No Coast is a member of the Women's ...

169-166. No Coast had been the intended host league but their venue plans fell through. In 2015, Wasatch dropped down to Division 2 Playoffs as the fifth seed at

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 ...

, and finished in fifth place by defeating Bear City 203-152. In 2016, Wasatch was the third seed for the Lansing Division 2 Playoff, and just missed the bronze medal with a 197-194 loss to Charm City Rollergirls. Wasatch returned to Division 1 Playoffs in 2017 as the twelfth seed in

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, but lost both of their games, 415-68 to Atlanta Rollergirls and 270-77 to

Queen City Roller Girls Queen City Roller Derby or QCRD, is the flat-track roller derby league based in Buffalo, New York. Founded as Queen City Roller Derby in 2006, the league is scheduled to play its fourteenth season in 2020. QCRD is a member of the Women's Flat T ...

Rankings

* ''CR = consolation round''

References

{{WFTDA Division 1 Roller derby leagues established in 2008 Roller derby leagues in Utah Sports in Salt Lake City Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 1 2008 establishments in Utah