Our Roots
Angel City Derby is the first flat-track roller derby league in Los Angeles (and the second roller derby league overall, after the Los Angeles Derby Dolls). We were one of the first leagues in California to become a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), joining in December 2007.
Angel City Derby initially had 3 home teams: The Berzerkers, The Shore Shots, and the Block Steady Crew. When Angel City Derby joined WFTDA, the Road Ragers were formed as the first league charter team.
Rocket Queens, April 2010, Photography by Dave Preciado
Shore Shots, June 2007, Photography by Unknown
Our first public game on June 30, 2006 at World on Wheels in Los Angeles. “Heaven’s Gate” was ACD’s home for our first competitive season in 2007.
The home teams were dissolved after the 2008 season due to inconsistent rosters, which resulted in sharing players and guest skaters from other leagues, like the LA Derby Dolls. The structure changed to the A and B-level travel teams, the Hollywood Scarlets, and the Rocket Queens.
In 2010 and 2011, the league membership surged partly due to the success of the movie "Whip It" (which featured members of the LA derby community). The number of incoming skaters allowed the league to form a sub-pool, The Rising Stars.
Hollywood Scarlets, May 2010, Photography by Hugh Hamilton and Dave Preciado
Hollywood Scarlets, March 2013, Photography by Unknown
In 2014, yet another team was added to the structure due to swell of the rosters from league growth. The Shore Shots were formed, another callback to a disbanded team of the past, and initially began competing at the same skill level as the Rocket Queens.
In 2015, Angel City introduced Angel City Junior Derby (ACJD), a junior roller derby program for girls ages 7–17. ACJD features two teams, the A-Listers and Blockbusters.
In 2016, the league announced that the growth of regional level play of the Rocket Queens and Shore Shots had grown so competitive that a single tryout would be held for the top skaters to qualify to travel as the International Travel B team alongside the Hollywood Scarlets, collectively as the Travel Team. The Shore Shots would similarly overlap training with the Road Ragers at the regional level, and the Road Ragers with the Rising Stars.
The Hollywood Scarlets and newly restructured Rocket Queens traveled to their first joint tournaments together: the Big O Tournament in Eugene, OR and the Portland-based Rose City Rollers' Hometown Throwdown tournament in Spring 2016. The Shore Shots remain regionally competitive in the West, and the Road Ragers will remain locally competitive in the Los Angeles/Southern California area.
The continued growth led to the addition of a C-level team to the league. The new team was dubbed the Road Ragers (in homage to the original name of the travel team that would eventually become the Hollywood Scarlets).
In early 2011, the league moved its training into a warehouse in South Central Los Angeles, nicknamed "the Ascot." Securing a consistent training space allowed for even more league growth, and by the end of 2012, the league moved into a bigger and better warehouse facility in Gardena. Angel City trained at that facility, Angel City HQ, until the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2013, the ranking system set out by the WFTDA was changed to better address disparities among regional play and allowed for an epic year of reshuffling. The algorithm change was a huge benefit to the Hollywood Scarlets, who experienced a meteoric rise in team rankings as a result of their persistent training, combined with the acquisition of a few new players. In the postseason, the Hollywood Scarlets qualified for the WFTDA International Championships for the first time ever. They made a big splash with their Championships debut, defeating their first opponent handily and moving into quarter-finals against long-time rival Denver Roller Derby.
Road Ragers, March 2014, Photography by Carl Burdick