American Roller Derby League
Encyclopedia
The American Roller Derby League (ARDL) is a professional
roller derby
league formed in the late 1990s. Based in Northern California
, the ARDL promotes teams whose names include the Bay City Bombers (the league's primary focus), the Los Angeles Turbos, the New York Demons, the Chicago Pioneers (a.k.a. the Chiefs), and three all-female teams, the East Bay Lady Killers, the SF Roller Girls, and the Orlando Thunder. However, in May 2006, league owner Tim Patten
admitted that he was having trouble recruiting and retaining skaters, and only had eight inexperienced skaters practicing once a week in San Francisco.
The ARDL was featured in the 2006 documentary film
Jam, has sponsored novels and a clothing line, and is sometimes promoted as the American Inline Roller Derby League when competing on inline skates.
Professional sports
Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...
roller derby
Roller derby
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team...
league formed in the late 1990s. Based in Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
, the ARDL promotes teams whose names include the Bay City Bombers (the league's primary focus), the Los Angeles Turbos, the New York Demons, the Chicago Pioneers (a.k.a. the Chiefs), and three all-female teams, the East Bay Lady Killers, the SF Roller Girls, and the Orlando Thunder. However, in May 2006, league owner Tim Patten
Tim Patten
Tim Patten is a former roller derby athlete and a self-published author under the pen name D.M. Bordner.In 1973, Patten moved from Wisconsin to San Francisco. He studied computer science in college and has worked off and on in the computer industry ever since.Patten skated for various professional...
admitted that he was having trouble recruiting and retaining skaters, and only had eight inexperienced skaters practicing once a week in San Francisco.
The ARDL was featured in the 2006 documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Jam, has sponsored novels and a clothing line, and is sometimes promoted as the American Inline Roller Derby League when competing on inline skates.
External links
- Bay City Bombers - official site for the team and the entire ARDL