Charm City Roller Derby (CCRD), was a flat track

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...

league in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. Founded in 2005, Charm City 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. It sets the international standards for rankings, rules, and competition in the sport, and provides guidance and ...

(WFTDA).

History and league structure

The league was established in 2005 as Charm City Roller Girls, when Caroline Donaghy returned to Baltimore from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, where she had skated with the Space City Roller Girls, and began promoting the intention to start a league in Baltimore. The first public Charm City game was held in 2006 at Skateland in Putty Hill. Upon the league's formation, it comprised four teams: the Junkyard Dolls, the Mobtown Mods, the Night Terrors and the Speed Regime. As early as 2008, games were being held at the

Fifth Regiment Armory The Fifth Regiment Armory is a historic National Guard armory built in Baltimore, Maryland, United States in 1901. The Armory is a fortress-type structure situated in midtown Baltimore. It consists of a full basement, a first floor containing a ...

in Baltimore, and by 2009, the league was holding games at Du Burns Arena in Canton before sellout crowds of 2,000 fans. , Charm City has three travel teams: the All-Stars represent the league in WFTDA competition, and Female Trouble and the Trouble Makers are B and C teams, respectively. A three-team home league features the Dundalk Deviants, Hampden Hons and Pigtown Butchers. The All-Stars are known for wearing helmets that feature elements of the state flag of Maryland, which they first donned in 2008. Charm City Roller Derby operates as a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-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 of ...

. League member Joy Collision was a member of

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, representing the United States at the

2011 Roller Derby World Cup The 2011 Roller Derby World Cup was an international women's roller derby tournament organized by ''Blood & Thunder'' magazine. Teams of amateur skaters from around the world were fielded to compete for their respective nations. The inaugural 20 ...

WFTDA competition

Charm City was announced as a new member of the WFTDA in May 2007. The Charm City All-Stars first competed at WFTDA Playoffs in 2008 as the sixth seed at the Eastern Regional, where they won their opening game against

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 Trac ...

, lost their quarterfinal to the

Windy City Rollers Windy City Rollers is a women's flat-track roller derby league located in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Juanna Rumbel (Elizabeth Gomez) and Sister Sledgehammer (Kelly Simmons) in 2004, Windy City is the first flat-track roller derby league establi ...

but recovered to defeat

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

to finish in fifth place. In 2009 at the Eastern Regional, Charm City won their opener against DC Rollergirls but then lost their semifinal to

Philly Roller Girls Philly Roller Derby (PRD) is a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2005, Philly Roller Derby is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). League history First organi ...

to put them in the third-place game, which they lost 156-143 to

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to finish in fourth place. In 2010, an opening round win over

Steel City The Steel City is a common nickname for many cities that were once known for their production of large amounts of steel. With industrial production also in developing countries, like those in Eastern Europe and Asia, most of these cities do n ...

was followed by a loss to

Gotham Girls Roller Derby Gotham Roller Derby is a flat track roller derby league based in New York City, New York. Founded in late 2003, Gotham is the first flat track roller derby league in the metropolitan New York area and a founding member league of the sport's gover ...

to put them in the third-place game again, this time beating Boston 162-128 to finish third and qualify for

WFTDA Championships The International Women's Flat Track Derby Association Championships ("WFTDA Championships" or "Champs" for short) are the leading competition for roller derby leagues. The Championships are organized by the Women's Flat Track Derby Associatio ...

for the first time. At Championships, Charm City won their opening game against

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 ...

249-118, but then lost their quarterfinal to

Rocky Mountain Rollergirls Rocky Mountain Roller Derby (RMRD) is a flat-track roller derby league based in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 2004, Rocky Mountain is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), and has qualified for WFTDA Playoffs every ...

165-103 to end their weekend. At the 2011 East Regional (co-hosted by Charm City and DC Rollergirls at Du Burns Arena), the All-Stars defeated Steel City 189-94 to again finish in third place and advance to Championships. At Championships, Charm City lost 160-121 to Minnesota in the opening round. At the 2012 East Regional, Charm City finished in third place for the third straight year, via a 183-159 victory over

London Rollergirls London Roller Derby is a flat track roller derby league and a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). The league were founding members of the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA). The league has four travel teams ...

, and again qualified for Championships. At Championships, a 268-141 loss to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

in the opening round eliminated the All-Stars. In 2013, the WFTDA restructured the Playoff system, and Charm City qualified as the ninth seed for Division 1 Playoffs in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

, where upset losses to Detroit and Sacred City Derby Girls put the All-Stars in the ninth-place game against the

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 Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...

, which they won, 189-177. At the 2014 Division 1 Playoff in Salt Lake City, fourth-seeded Charm City finished in fourth place with a 183-156 loss to Rocky Mountain. In 2015 at Tucson, Charm City was the fifth seed but dropped down to an eighth-place finish with a 191-165 loss to Team United Roller Derby. In 2016, Charm City dropped into Division 2 for the first time, albeit as the top seed at the Playoff in Lansing, but were eliminated from Division 2 Championships contention with an upset loss to

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, 216-191. Charm City earned third place with a narrow 197-194 win over Wasatch Roller Derby. Charm City returned to Division 1 Playoffs in 2017 at

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

as the twelfth seed, but lost both their games to

Helsinki Roller Derby Helsinki Roller Derby is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Helsinki in Finland. Founded in 2009, the league currently consists of three travel teams who compete against teams from other leagues. Helsinki Roller Derby is a member o ...

(308-144) and

Rainy City Roller Derby Rainy City Roller Derby (RCRD) is a flat track roller derby league based in Manchester, England. Founded as Rainy City Roller Girls in 2008, the league consists of three teams that compete against teams from other leagues, and a development te ...

(258-78) to finish outside of the medals. In 2018, Charm qualified for the WFTDA North American East Continental Cup held in

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

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as the eighth seed, but after losing their opening game to North Star Roller Derby 259-176 finished out of the medals.

Rankings

* ''CR = consolation round''

References

External links

Official website
{{WFTDA Division 1 Roller derby leagues in Maryland Roller derby leagues established in 2005 Sports competitions in Baltimore Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 1 Women's sports in Baltimore 2005 establishments in Maryland