History Of Hollywood Scarlets
Get the details of the 2020 season ranked #7 team in the world by WFTDA.
WFTDA competition
The Hollywood Scarlets represent Angel City Derby at the WFTDA competitive level and play for international rankings in the organization. The Scarlets qualified as the 10th seed for the WFTDA West Region Playoffs in 2009, taking 8th place. They next qualified in 2011, again as 10th seed and finished in 9th place overall. In 2012, they qualified for the West Region Playoffs as the 8th seed and ended the tournament in the same position.
In The Beginning…
In 2013, the Scarlets rose significantly in the rankings, paralleled with the WFTDA's shift from a regional structure to a division-based structure. The Scarlets qualified for the 2013 WFTDA Playoffs ranked #5 overall. With the withdrawal of the Oly Rollers from the Playoffs, they entered the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 1 Playoffs in Richmond, Virginia, as the top seed. They finished in 3rd place, thus qualifying for the 2013 WFTDA Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the first time in the history of the Angel City Derby Girls.
Hollywood Scarlets, May 2010, Photography by Hugh Hamilton and Dave Preciado
The Scarlets matched up against Rocky Mountain Rollergirls in the first round at 2013 Championships and after defeating them 298-228, moved on to play the Denver Roller Dolls, but lost in the second round of the bracket and were knocked out of the single-elimination style tournament.
In 2014, the Scarlets, ranked #7 overall, entered the Division 1 Playoffs in Salt Lake City as a #2 seed and left at the same position, qualifying them for the Championship Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee. They faced the 2013 Championship runners-up, the Texas Rollergirls in the first round of the tournament. This was the first time Angel City played against the heralded "godmothers of roller derby" and Texas was victorious.
In 2015, the Scarlets entered the competitive play season with their most aggressive games to date. They defeated Santa Cruz Derby Girls, Arizona Roller Derby, Tampa Roller Derby, Atlanta Rollergirls, and Jacksonville RollerGirls in the Spring, and moving into summer bested Rocky Mountain, Minnesota RollerGirls and long-time rivals at B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls, but fell to Texas and London Rollergirls.
They entered the 2015 Playoff cycle at #8 overall, placing them in Omaha in the #2 seed position where they again faced Minnesota for the chance to take on the perennial champions in the final game, Gotham Girls Roller Derby. Though Angel City lost, they did score more points against Gotham than any team had during the course of the season, and qualified for the Championship in Saint Paul, Minnesota. At the 2015 Championship the Scarlets met the Rat City Rollergirls in the first round, and after defeating them, faced London in the quarter-finals, where London edged out a win.
Into The Future
The Scarlets started the 2016 season ranked #6 overall, scheduled games against Texas, Denver, Victorian Roller Derby League, Rose City Rollers (the 2015 WFTDA Champions), Rat City, Bay Area, and Terminal City Rollergirls. At Division 1 Playoffs in Vancouver, Angel City finished in 2nd place for the third straight year, and again advanced to Championships. At the final tournament in Portland, Angel City defeated Montreal Roller Derby in their opening game, but then fell in the quarterfinal bout against Gotham, 197-168.
In 2017, Angel City was the second seed at D1 Playoffs in Seattle, Washington, and won their quarterfinal against Tampa Bay Derby, 287-87. Angel City then defeated Rat City Rollergirls 224-142 in the semifinal, before losing the final to Rose City Rollers, 224-142. At Champs, Angel City won their opening game against Minnesota 281-144, but was then knocked out of the medal round by Denver, 196-165. Angel City then won their consolation game against Rat City, 219-94.
In 2018, Angel City would see a huge roster change after a significant retirements at the end of 2017. The team was able to rebuild its core with some fresh talent, and qualified for WFTDA 2018 Playoffs in A Coruña, Spain where they took the bronze medal with a 174-146 victory over Rainy City Roller Derby.
At the 2018 Championships in New Orleans, Angel City won their opening game against Jacksonville before losing to Victoria in the quarterfinals, and ended their weekend with a consolation round victory over Montreal, 199-118.In 2019, Angel City maintained the #7 spot for much of the season, sending the Hollywood Scarlets to the WFTDA playoffs as a second seed at Winston-Salem, NC in September 2019.
They secured victory in their first game against Bear City from Berlin, Germany, 268-76. The semi-final saw them re-match Rainy City Roller Derby after almost exactly a year, doubling their margin of victory with a final score of 162-106 and securing their spot in the finals. The final game, as seeding would predict, was against the #1 seed Texas Rollergirls (#6 in the world). The Scarlets played a low-scoring, physical game against the Texecutioners, securing their gold medal with a final score of 120-73.
A series of team injuries in the post-season would influence their bumpy road to Championships in Montreal, November 13-15, 2019. They faced old rivals Victorian Roller Derby League, and Denver Roller Derby, both of whom defeated the Scarlets.