Santa Cruz Derby Girls
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| Metro area | Santa Cruz, California |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Teams |
Boardwalk Bombshells (WFTDA A Team) Organic Panic Redwood Rebels Steamer Janes |
| Track type(s) | Flat |
| Venue | Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium |
| Affiliations | WFTDA |
| Org. type | Non Profit, 501(c)3 |
| Website | www |
Santa Cruz Derby Girls (SCDG) is a women's flat track roller derby league in Santa Cruz, California. The first female, amateur flat-track roller derby league in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Derby Girls is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
SCDG was founded as "Santa Cruz Rollergirls" when Robin "Robin Yo' Life" Hoff (having skated with Seattle's Rat City Rollergirls), and Vanessa "Haley Combat" Schuetz (having skated with Oakland's Bay Area Derby Girls), started the Santa Cruz Rollergirls after posting recruiting notices online in 2007. In early 2009, the LLC known as Santa Cruz Rollergirls was dissolved, and a majority of the skaters moved on to establish the Santa Cruz Derby Girls as a non-profit roller derby league. In September 2010, Santa Cruz Derby Girls was accepted as a full member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. The league moved into the newly inaugurated Kaiser Permanente Arena in 2013, with a then-record (for the league) crowd of 2,178 who saw Santa Cruz defeat Las Vegas' Sin City Rollergirls 153-124. In 2015, SCDG returned to the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, where they had previously played in 2010.
Santa Cruz Derby Girls has a three team home league that competes for an annual championship, comprising the Organic Panic, Redwood Rebels and the Steamer Janes. The Steamer Janes won the inaugural home championship in 2015. Santa Cruz's all-star travel team, the Boardwalk Bombshells, represents the league in WFTDA-sanctioned play.
The Santa Cruz Derby Groms are the league's junior roller derby affiliate, and were established in the summer of 2009. Most members range from the ages of 10 to seventeen and are split up into two teams, the Sugar Skulls and the Bumper Scars. They played full positional derby with no hitting until 2012, when a full contact team (the Gromshells) was established.
Santa Cruz was initially placed in the WFTDA's West Region, and did not qualify for West Regional Playoffs during this time. In 2013, Santa Cruz qualified for WFTDA Playoffs for the first time. Ahead of the season, the WFTDA announced the creation of a divisional ranking system for rankings. Santa Cruz was initially ranked at the lower end of Division 2, but throughout the season improved their rankings and eventually entered Division 2 Playoffs in Kalamazoo as the top seed. Santa Cruz defeated the Sac City Rollers of Sacramento 230-185 to win the tournament and earn a trip to the Division 2 championship. At the 2014 WFTDA Championships in Milwaukee, Santa Cruz eventually fell to the Jet City Rollergirls by one point, with a final score of 195-194.
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