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

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. 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 2005 as Charm City Roller Girls, when Caroline Donaghy returned to Baltimore from

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, 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 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

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. League member Joy Collision was a member of Team USA, 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, lost their quarterfinal to the Windy City Rollers but recovered to defeat

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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 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 was followed by a loss to Gotham Girls Roller Derby 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 249-118, but then lost their quarterfinal to Rocky Mountain Rollergirls 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, and again qualified for Championships. At Championships, a 268-141 loss to

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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

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

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, 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

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, 216-191. Charm City earned third place with a narrow 197-194 win over

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 th ...

. Charm City returned to Division 1 Playoffs in 2017 at

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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

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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