Tallahassee RollerGirls 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

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

. Founded in 2006, Tallahassee 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 organization

The league was founded in 2006, and joined the

(WFTDA) in 2009 as a

South Central Region In Vietnam, South Central Coast () and South Central Region () are two terms which can refer to the same region or two regions that do not correspond to each other. South Central Coast (sometimes called "South Central Region") consists of the i ...

league.

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

student Adrianne Chaplin posted a flyer about roller derby and Melissa Smith responded, who organized the first meeting of 12 women in January 2006. The league practiced at a skating rink in Georgia prior to relocating to the Tallahassee Skate Inn. In 2012, the league moved to their current venue, the Hansel Tookes Center at

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

. Capital Punishment played their first game against Panama City March 24, 2007 and went on to win 6 out of 7 of their first season games, losing only to the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins. Their second season consisted of 7 wins and 1 loss to a home team of founding WFTDA member,

Texas Rollergirls Texas Rollergirls is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Austin, Texas. Founded in early 2003 and widely credited as the league that started the modern roller derby movement, the Texas Rollergirls were the first flat-track league in ...

. In their third season (2009) the Jailbreak Betties, Tallahassee's second team, lost in their inaugural bout against Burn City Rollers from Auburn, Alabama. The league increased the number of bouts to 17 in 2010, and 23 in 2011 between the two teams. Tallahassee Rollergirls has two travel teams, Capital Punishment and the Jailbreak Betties. Capital Punishment competes in interleague games which count towards WFTDA national rankings and the Jailbreak Betties function as a training league. Tallahassee also has two home teams, the Legiskators and the Sinators. As of 2023, the Tallahassee Rollergirls continue to be a prominent roller derby league, playing a significant role in both local and national flat-track roller derby competitions. The league has maintained its commitment to promoting the sport of roller derby in the Tallahassee area, while fostering a strong, inclusive community of skaters.

WFTDA competition

Capital Punishment began their 2012 season with a win against the Green Country Roller Girls who were ranked seventh in the South Central Region at the time. 2012 also marked the first time the league qualified as the ninth seed at the final WFTDA South Central Regional Tournament and finished in eighth place. In 2013, Tallahassee qualified for the newly created Division 2 Playoffs in Des Moines, Iowa, but finished in tenth place, ending their weekend with a 345–135 loss to DC Rollergirls.

Rankings

Community involvement

Tallahassee RollerGirls have donated proceeds to local and national charities in the past including Refuge House,

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

, and are founding members of the Oasis Center for Women & Girls. In addition to raising money for charities, some members founded Spread the Love Charity.Spread the love charity
Retrieved 2012-03-02.

Spread the Love charity

Spread the Love charity was organized in November 2009 by teammates and friends of Stephanie "Danger S" Little shortly after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Danger S joined the Tallahassee RollerGirls earlier that year and was elected assistant coach before being diagnosed. She died in February 2010, but the Spread the Love Charity created to assist her now continues to fund exams for women in need and raise awareness of cervical cancer. The team uniform includes a patch in her memory that reads "Danger S. Ones".kingjames
In memory of Danger
''derbylife'' 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2012-03-03.

References

{{Florida Sports Roller derby leagues in Florida Non-profit organizations based in Florida Women's Flat Track Derby Association Sports in Tallahassee, Florida Roller derby leagues established in 2006 2006 establishments in Florida