Windy City Rollers
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| Metro area | Chicago, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Founded | September 2004 |
| Teams |
Windy City All-Stars (A team) Second Wind (B team) Double Crossers The Fury Hell's Belles Manic Attackers Haymarket Rioters (farm team) |
| Track type(s) | Flat |
| Venue | UIC Pavilion |
| Affiliations | WFTDA |
| Org. type | 501c3 |
| Website | http://www.windycityrollers.com/ |
Windy City Rollers is a women's flat-track roller derby league located in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Juanna Rumbel (Elizabeth Gomez) and Sister Sledgehammer (Kelly Simmons) in 2004, Windy City is the first flat-track roller derby league established in Chicago, and is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
Chicago residents Juanna Rumbel (Elizabeth Gomez) and Sister Sledgehammer (Kelly Simmons) were introduced to the roller derby revival on a trip to Austin, Texas in April 2004, where they were served at a bar by a member of the Texas Rollergirls. After their trip, Simmons and Gomez organized the four-team league and at the initial practice 96 women appeared. Organizational fundraisers followed, along with open skates at locations such as the South Side's Martin Luther King skating rink to continue recruitment. Windy City began holding bouting events in July 2005, and by the end of the year was regularly drawing 2,000 fans to games at Chicago's Congress Theater, attracting the largest audience flat-track derby had yet seen at the time. That first season the league used a smaller than regulation sized track due to limitations at their venue - they literally skated in the orchestra pit at the Congress Theater - and moved to Cicero Stadium in early 2006 for a proper-sized space. The Windy City Rollers changed venues again in October 2008 and currently play at the University of Illinois Chicago Pavilion.
On August 25, 2007, Chicago attorney Tahirah Johnson, skating as "Tequila Mockingbird" for The Fury, was injured in the most serious accident of the current roller derby revival. She injured her spinal cord during a bout, and was temporarily paralyzed from the neck down. She has since moved to Oklahoma City, and through physical therapy has regained some movement in all of her limbs.
Windy City has a four-team home league, comprising the Double Crossers, the Fury, Hell's Belles and the Manic Attackers. These teams compete for an annual championship game named after Chicago roller derby legend, Ivy King. The Fury won the Ivy King Cup in 2005 and 2006. In 2007 the trophy was claimed by the Double Crossers. In 2008 the Ivy King Cup was won by the Hell's Belles. In 2009 the Manic Attackers beat out the Hell's Belles to win the Ivy King Cup. The Fury came back to claim the cup in 2010 and 2011. The Manic Attackers beat The Fury in 2012 to win the title. But The Fury won back the cup yet again in 2013. After seasons of defeat, the Double Crossers won it in 2014, before the Belles, after being shut out for seven years, won it in 2015 in a win over The Fury.
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