Rockford Rage is a women's 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 based in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

. Founded in 2006, the league consists of a single team which competes against teams from other leagues. Rockford 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

The league was founded in mid-2006 by Rebecca Engebretson and others, with its first practices held in the parking lot of a

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

bookstore. Its first bout was played in December, 2006, an interleague contest between the Demolition Dolls and the Screw City Slammers, part of a four team inter-league squad that also included the Midwest Maulers and the Rollitas. The bout attracted 650 fans. In 2009, the league attracted attention for its abandonment of smoking breaks.Roller derby team ditches smoke breaks for fitness
, ''

Bloomington Pantagraph ''The Pantagraph'' is a daily newspaper that serves Bloomington–Normal, Illinois, along with 60 communities and eight counties in the Central Illinois area. Its headquarters are in Bloomington and it is owned by Lee Enterprises. The name is ...

'', July 31, 2009 This was the same year that the Rockford Rage converted into a

traveling team In professional team sports, a traveling team (also called a road team) is a member of a professional league that never competes in a home arena or stadium. This differs from a barnstorming team as a barnstorming team competes in exhibition games ...

format, forming an All Star team and a B team called the Rockford Rag Dolls. The B team and the inter-league teams have since been disbanded, leaving the current All Star roster. Rockford was accepted into the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice The Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice was 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 ...

Program in September 2009,Apprentice Leagues
, WFTDA ersion of 16 November 2009/ref> and became a full member of the WFTDA in June 2010.WFTDA welcomes 11 new members, adds new regions
", WFTDA, 17 June 2010 In 2016, the Indoor Sports Center was renovated to accommodate Soccer, so the Rockford Rage was forced to seek a new venue. While activity picked up as a travel team, local venues were few and far between, and the Boone County Fairgrounds was used as a temporary home in 2017. An agreement with the UW Sports Factory in downtown Rockford was struck in late 2017, and the announcement was made that the downtown Rockford venue would become their new home. March 24, 2018 will be the first time the Rockford Rage skates a home bout within the city limits of Rockford, IL.

WFTDA rankings

*''NR'' = ''no final ranking assigned this year''

References

{{Illinois Sports

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Roller derby leagues established in 2006 Roller derby leagues in Illinois Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 3 2006 establishments in Illinois