League & Team info

The Gem City Rollergirls is an all-female, flat-track, skater owned and operated roller derby league in Dayton, Ohio.
What does this mean? It means our league is owned by the players, not some outside person or corporation, and each player has a say in the running of the league. We operate under a 3 skater management team, with committees working on various aspects of league operation. Most decisions are made by a league vote. It also means that we qualify for membership in the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).

We play by WFTDA rules and will eventually play against other WFTDA member leagues.Is roller derby for real? Yes! The roller derby we play, unlike "Roller Jam" of the past, is 100% real sport. The hits are real, the injuries are real, the fights are real. Nothing about roller derby is staged or choreographed. There is a very lengthy set of rules we follow when playing, just like any other sport. We have trained referees to make penalty calls. Our skaters have to meet minimum skill requirements to play. We practice and train hard. This isn't the WWE, we're not just putting on a good show.

Is female roller derby family friendly?
Contrary to what you may see on the A&E show "Rollergirls", we are trying to keep our league family friendly. Most of us have children and have made it a point to not pick derby names that are considered to be in poor taste. We are not "sex on wheels", as some outlets would portray us. We are women from varying walks of life that are in this to have fun, work hard, get fit, and SKATE! We come in all shapes and sizes and work hard to be the best skaters we can be. Among our ranks are nurses, students, moms, artists, secretaries, and social workers.

Additonally, we view roller derby as a positive way to build confidence, teamwork, strength, determination, and respect for others. We hope that our league will be an inspiration for young women in Dayton and the surrounding areas. We want to show them that women can be strong and tough and smart, can play sports and balance a social life and career, can play hard but still be feminine. We want to dispel some of the stereotypes that plague women's sports today. And we're going to do it one lap at a time.

How did the Gem City Rollergirls get started?
Like a lot of other new leagues around the country, the formation of the Gem City Rollergirls was inspired by the airing of A&E's series "Rollergirls", which chronicles the lives and sport of the Texas Lonestar Rollergirls, a banked-tracked derby team out of Austin, TX. Many of our players saw "Rollergirls" and knew that they wanted to play derby.

But what really brought it all together for Dayton was the drive of Co-Founders Helen of DesTroy, Cyn Vicious, and I Candye. Helen moved to Dayton a few years ago from Chicago. After witnessing the revival in other parts of the country, Helen knew she wanted to derby. Shortly after moving to Dayton, Helen found out that Chicago had started a roller derby league, the Windy City Rollers. Disappointed that she had left just as this phenomenon was getting off the ground, she vowed to form a league in Dayton. However, fate had a different idea, and Helen found out soon after that she was pregnant. Roller Derby plans got put on hold for over a year.

Cyn Vicious has loved to skate since she was little. Cyn used to skate with her sisters on weekends while her mom would use the time at the rink to study for college classes. She was devastated with the advent of rollerblades and never quite warmed to the concept. Cyn had never heard of roller derby until she saw previews for A&E's "Rollergirls" but immediately loved the idea and wanted to do it. She contacted the existing Ohio Rollergirls league to see if they were starting a team in the Dayton area and was told they were not, but that they could give her the name of interested parties in Dayton who were looking to start a league. In school and not ready to undertake the task of starting a league, Cyn decided to wait and see how things played out.

At the end of 2005, Helen of DesTroy started sending out bulletins on MySpace, recruiting interested parties to derby. What she got was a response from Co-Founder I Candye, a former Texas resident and banked-track roller derby enthusiast. I Candye started sending out bulletins and scouring MySpace, looking for potential players. She stumbled across Cyn Vicious' profile on MySpace and asked if she was interested. Cyn jumped at the offer and the two started recruiting. I Candye started a group on MySpace for anyone interested in playing or helping out and within a few short weeks over 90 people had joined. Shortly thereafter, I Candye asked Cyn to come on as a Co-Founder as well. Cyn happily accepted and immediately got to work developing paperwork and researching rinks.

The three co-founders continued heavy recruiting, mainly on the internet, and began meeting with area roller rinks to see if they would support the league for practice space. The girls met with resistance to the idea at first. Rink owners were worried about liability. But after much talk and assurances that they would not be held responsible for what happened during the course of derby, and after touting the benefits of what the girls could do for the rink, Gem City Rollergirls was on its way up and had its foot in the door.

Our first Meet & Greet was held at Skateworld of Kettering on January 22, 2006. The girls were able to rent the rink for 2 hours and gather together potential players and volunteers. About 20 interested girls and guys showed up, each wanting to contribute something to the league. Some girls didn't feel they were "cut out" for derby, but were willing to offer other services, such as promoting the league, gathering sponsorships, helping with uniforms, becoming referees, etc. Others knew from the start they wanted to play derby. The ground rules and expectations were laid down, information was taken, and we even had a news story written about us. It was a great start.

The girls, wanting to keep in touch as much as possible to get the league rolling, started online groups on MySpace and on Yahoo!. Through these mediums they began working on a second Meet & Greet, and collaborating on ideas for the league, such as a theme and team name for the first of several teams to be formed. Committees were formed, duties were assigned, a logo was secured. The dream was becoming a reality.

Our first practice was Sunday, February 19, 2006.