Sick Town Roller Derby Explained

Sick Town Roller Derby
Founded:2008
Metro Area:Corvallis, OR
Country:United States
Teams:S*M*A*S*H Unit
Tracks:Flat
Venue:Linn County Fair & Expo Center - Albany
Affiliations:WFTDA

Sick Town Roller Derby (STRD), formerly known as Sick Town Derby Dames, is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Corvallis, Oregon. Founded in 2008, the league consists of a single team which competes against teams from other leagues. Sick Town is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).[1]

History

The league was founded by Brick Wallace and Magic Hips, two skaters with the Emerald City Roller Girls who wanted a league closer to their home town.[2] It played its first home bout in September 2009, against the Lava City Roller Dolls.[3]

Sick Town accepted into the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice Program in December 2009.[4] By early 2012, it had enough skaters to host an intraleague bout,[5] and in June 2012 it was accepted as a full member of the WFTDA.[6]

In 2013, the league purchased the Lake Park Roller Rink in Lewisburg, the third-oldest roller rink in the Pacific Northwest.[7] Sick Town planned to use the building as a practice rink, but shortly afterwards the facility was declared unsafe by the local fire marshal, leading to lengthy and costly restoration efforts.[8] Membership dropped off during a lengthy hiatus, and in October 2017 the league played its first home game in three years, at the Linn County Fair and Expo Grounds in Albany.[9]

In September 2016, league member Miranda "Dixieskullpopper" Prince gained local news coverage for appearing on the game show Jeopardy!.[10] In April 2021, the league sold the Lake Park Roller Rink building after repairs became too difficult to keep up with. During this time, the league had paused practices due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and wasn’t able to return to practicing in a limited form until the summer of 2021. Since the league was without a venue for a time, they practiced outdoors until they were able to make arrangements to skate in Langton Hall at Oregon State University. In October of 2021, Sick Town began practicing at the Mid-Willamette Family YMCA Family Activities Center. The league was able to rebuild again and had their first home game in May 2023, more than 3 years after their last one which was held just prior to the Pandemic.In February of 2023, Sick Town Derby Dames changed their DBA to Sick Town Roller Derby (STRD) and adapted their logo to be more inclusive and better reflect their values that “All Can Skate Here”.

WFTDA rankings

SeasonFinal ranking[11] PlayoffsChampionship
2013108 WFTDA[12] DNQDNQ
2014194 WFTDA[13] DNQDNQ
2015NR[14] DNQDNQ
2016NR[15] DNQDNQ

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sick Town Derby Dames – WFTDA. wftda.com. WFTDA. 28 December 2017.
  2. Nancy Raskauskas, "Bounce, rock, skate, roll", Corvallis Gazette-Times, August 29, 2008
  3. "Derby Dames host Skatemberfest", Corvallis Gazette-Times, September 24, 2009
  4. "Apprentice Leagues", WFTDA [version of 23 March 2010]
  5. Raju Woodward, "Ready to rumble and roll!!!", Albany Democrat Herald, March 8, 2012
  6. "Nine Leagues Become Full WFTDA Members", WFTDA, 1 June 2012
  7. Web site: Fuqua. Canda. Mid-valley roller derby rolls home at historic rink. Corvallis Gazette Times. 28 December 2017. en. 10 October 2013.
  8. Web site: Blank. Kyra. Sick Town Derby Dames Nurse Old Rink, Throw Party For the Cause - The Corvallis Advocate. The Corvallis Advocate. 28 December 2017. 17 February 2016.
  9. Web site: Fancher. Patrick. Sick Town Derby Dames host first home bout in three years Saturday. Albany Democrat Herald. 28 December 2017. en. 26 October 2017.
  10. Web site: Paul. Alex. Albany woman gets "once in lifetime" shot on Jeopardy!. Albany Democrat Herald. 28 December 2017. en. 19 September 2016.
  11. "Current Rankings", WFTDA
  12. Web site: Rankings: December 31, 2013. January 2014 . WFTDA. 28 December 2017.
  13. Web site: Rankings: December 31, 2014 – WFTDA. wftda.com. January 2015 . WFTDA. 28 December 2017.
  14. Web site: Rankings: December 31, 2015 – WFTDA. wftda.com. January 2016 . WFTDA. 28 December 2017.
  15. Web site: Rankings: December 31, 2016 – WFTDA. wftda.com. 6 January 2017 . WFTDA. 28 December 2017.