Women's Flat Track Derby Association
Women's Flat Track Derby Association logo
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| Sport | Roller derby |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| No. of teams | 397 Full Member leagues, 48 Apprentice leagues (as of 23 December 2016[update]) |
| Countries |
 Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Denmark Finland France Germany Ireland Japan Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Spain Sweden United Kingdom United States
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| Most recent champion(s) |
Rose City Rollers (Division 1); Blue Ridge Rollergirls (Division 2) |
| Most titles | Gotham Girls Roller Derby (5) |
| Official website | WFTDA.com |
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body of women's flat track roller derby, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition (ULC), but was renamed in November 2005. It is registered in Raleigh, North Carolina as a 501(c)(6) business league organization, which is a type of nonprofit organization. According to its mission statement, the organization "promotes and fosters the sport of women's flat track roller derby by facilitating the development of athletic ability, sportsmanship, and goodwill among member leagues", and its governing philosophy is "by the skaters, for the skaters" — the primary owners, managers, and operators of each member league and of the association are women skaters, although this does not preclude any particular business structure (leagues don't have to be legally incorporated or internally egalitarian). The mission statement also says WFTDA sets "standards for rules, seasons, and safety, and determining guidelines for the national and international athletic competitions of member leagues", and says "all member leagues have a voice in the decision-making process, and agree to comply with WFTDA policies".
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. 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 (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).
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