Women's Flat Track Derby Association

In 2004, the United Leagues Coalition (ULC) was an informal electronic message board through which established leagues compared notes in order to prepare for inter-league play, and it was also used to exchange information to help new leagues that were just getting started. The ULC evolved into a more formal organization in July 2005, when representatives of 20 leagues met in Chicago to discuss establishing a governing body for women's flat-track roller derby.[5] At the meeting, a voting system was established, as was a set of goals, and a timeline established for facilitating inter-league play. Among these goals was the production of a standard track design, and standard game rules. The design and rules were settled upon and distributed later that year. In November 2005, the ULC voted to change its name to the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), with initial membership of 22 leagues[7][8] (soon expanded to 30 members by early 2006).

In early 2006, a track design and rules were published on the organization's fledgling website.

On 15 August 2007, the WFTDA announced it had struck a deal with the MavTV network to record, edit and broadcast the 2007 Eastern Regional Tournament as a weekly series of 12 one-hour episodes (one episode per bout).[9]

In September 2007, the WFTDA was admitted to USA Roller Sports (USARS) as a Class V member — a national amateur roller skating organization — and a WFTDA delegate joined the USARS Board of Directors.[10]

In June 2008, the WFTDA Rules Committee created a Question and Answer forum to "provide definitive and final answers about the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Standard Rules, and in July, the WFTDA started its referee certification program.[11] The official WFTDA magazine fiveonfive began publication in September 2008. In November, it was announced that for 2009, WFTDA member leagues would be divided into four regions, rather than two: West, South Central, North Central, and East.[12] Each region has a tournament scheduled, followed by a national championship.

In April 2009, the WFTDA published revised rules, WFTDA Rules 4.0. The revised rule-set became effective for all WFTDA sanctioned bouts on 1 June 2009.[13]

At the start of 2013, the geographic regions were replaced with three divisions, each operating worldwide. However, foreseeing continued growth in membership, the WFTDA stated that future developments were likely to include new regional structures alongside the divisional system.[14]

In November 2015, WFTDA broadened its discrimination protections for gender identity to include transgender women, intersex women, and gender-expansive[15] participants.[16][17]

During the COVID-19 pandemic the WFTDA, in consultation with epidemiologists, formed a tiered activity "ladder" in order to keep the league operating during the crisis.[18] The plan was hailed as "the best COVID-19 plan in sports".[19][20]

In July 2005 the United Leagues Coalition (ULC) was a somewhat formal organization of 20-plus leagues. By early 2006, the organization had grown to 30 leagues,[21] a cap decided upon at the July 2005 meeting.[3][22] In February that year, soon after the initial membership requirements were published (and following the fragmentation of several leagues), a "multi-league per city" clause was added. Although throughout early and mid-2006 the clause was listed as a requirement for membership, WFTDA's web site was later updated to state that the policy is "unofficial". WFTDA also claimed the policy was intended to uphold goodwill between members — by excluding leagues not likely to find favor with established members — as well as to prevent rival leagues in the same city from being privy to each other's "proprietary information."[23]

2006 map showing the first 30 member leagues

Around this time, induction of new member leagues was put on hold until revised membership requirements could be discussed at the next face-to-face meeting, which was held in May 2006. Following that meeting, a press release was issued to promote the organization and publicize the meeting.[22] The June statement covered the following points:

• Representatives of the "30 founding leagues" met to discuss rules, business structure, skill standards, rankings and future tournaments.
• 30 more leagues were slated to be inducted in mid-2006, bringing the potential total membership to 60.
• Version Two of the WFTDA Flat Track Derby Standardized Rules for Interleague Play was announced as forthcoming in mid-2006.
• Changes to the member league divisions were announced.
• A 2007 tournament schedule was announced.

In addition, Eastern and Western Regions, delineated by the Mississippi River, were announced. In September 2006, new membership was reopened.[7]

By late August 2007, WFTDA membership was up to forty-three leagues.[24][25]

In February 2008, WFTDA announced that leagues from Canada would be eligible for membership.[26] By September 2008, WFTDA membership had grown to 60 leagues.

In January 2009, Montreal Roller Derby became the first Canadian league admitted as a member, the WFTDA's 66th member, and was placed in the East region.[27][28] Also in January, the WFTDA announced it would stop accepting applications for new membership from February until July, so that it could concentrate on internal restructuring in order to, among other things, "grow the scope" of the organization.[29] Later in the year, in May, the first officially sanctioned international WFTDA bout was played between Montreal Roller Derby and Harrisburg Area Roller Derby at the Olympic Skating Center in Enola, Pennsylvania.

In July 2009, the WFTDA announced the new WFTDA Apprentice Program for aspiring member leagues, replacing its traditional membership application process. The program is designed to act as a "WFTDA 101" tutorial, and will match new leagues with an established WFTDA mentor, who will guide the apprentice through the processes and requirements necessary to becoming a full member. Upon completion of the program, apprentice leagues will have the knowledge (and the recommendations) needed to apply for full WFTDA membership. In November, the WFTDA opened for worldwide membership and the London Rollergirls became the first league outside North America to join as apprentice members.[30]

In June 2010, the WFTDA announced the first round of Apprentice league graduates, and the intention to form two new regions outside of the United States. (Leagues in those regions competed in the closest US region until they develop more fully.)[31]

In March 2012, Bear City Roller Derby from Berlin, Germany became the WFTDA's first full member league in continental Europe.[32] In June 2013 the Rock n Roller Queens of Bogota, Colombia became the first full member South American league. The Tokyo Roller Girls and Kokeshi Roller Dolls became the first full member leagues in Asia.[33]

Each year a series of playoffs are held, based on the June 30 rankings. While the top four teams as of June 30 get an immediate bye to Championships, the next 24 teams are seeded into two Playoff Tournaments, historically termed as Division 1, with the top three finishers at each advancing to Championships.[34] This was down from the top 36 teams competing in three Division 1 Playoffs in 2017, when the top four finishers from each tournament advanced to Championships without any bye teams.[35]

The 2020 Intentional Playoffs and Championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[36][37]

Teams ranked below the cutoff for playoffs are seeded into geographically-based Continental Cups,[34] replacing the former Division 2 system, which in 2017 saw the next 16 eligible teams compete in a single Playoff Tournament, with the winner crowned the Division 2 champion.[35] In 2018, there were two Continental Cups in North America, separated as West and East and featuring a combined total of 24 teams, and one Continental Cup in Europe featuring an additional eight teams.[38] The 2018 announcement described the model for Continental Cups as "scalable", such that event numbers and sizes may change over time based on needs.[34] It is expected that 2019 will see additional "Developmental Cups" to help leagues in regions which do not yet qualify for a dedicated Continental Cup.[39]

The 2020 Continental Cups were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[36]

As of June 2018, 45 leagues were enrolled in WFTDA's Apprentice Program.[43] In February 2019, the WFTDA announced it was replacing the Apprentice Program with a new New Member Program, which is temporarily on hold.[44]

Many roller derby leagues that are not WFTDA members use WFTDA rules. These include all members of the Men's Roller Derby Association.

• Orange County Roller Girls - Orange County, CA (January 2008–March 2009)[45][46]
• East Texas Bombers - Tyler, TX (November 2005-July 2009)[47]
• Salt City Derby Girls - Salt Lake City, UT (March 2011)[48]
• Rollergirls of Southern Indiana
• Choice City Rebels - Fort Collins, CO (March 2011 - December 2012)[49]
• Enid Roller Girls - Enid, Oklahoma (March 2010 - November 2019)