 | |
| Metro area | Northampton, MA |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Teams | The Dirty Dozen (men's travel team) Western Mass Destruction (women's A team) Quabbin Missile Crisis (women's B team) United Front (all-/no-gender team) |
| Track type(s) | Flat |
| Venue | Various |
| Affiliations | MRDA |
| Website | www |
Pioneer Valley Roller Derby (PVRD) is a roller derby league based in Northampton, Massachusetts. Founded in early 2006, the league was the first in the new flat-track roller derby movement that featured both women's and men's teams.
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating counter-clockwise around a track. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly inside the United States.
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton was 28,549.
The league was founded after two friends went to watch Providence Roller Derby play. [1] The men's team, the Dirty Dozen, was the first flat track men's roller derby team in the U.S. Having male skaters made the league ineligible to affiliate with the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), the leading organization for flat-track roller derby, although Pioneer Valley Roller Derby does skate to WFTDA rules. [2]
Providence Roller Derby or PRD is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 2004 as the first all-female, flat-track roller derby league in New England, Providence is a founding member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport 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, a type of nonprofit organization.
Early members of the league included "Big Vinny's Kid", the daughter of a former roller derby skater. [1]
The men's teams early bouts included one against the referees of Charm City Roller Girls, and the New York Shock Exchange's first bout, which Pioneer Valley lost 109-51. [3] Later in 2007, the league worked with these two groups to found the Men's Derby Coalition (MDC). [2] The Dirty Dozen came second in the MDC's 2010 Championship, losing to New York in the final. [4] The MDC subsequently became the Men's Roller Derby Association (MRDA), and Erich Bennar of Pioneer Valley was elected as its president in 2011. [5] The Dirty Dozen were ranked fifth for the 2011 MRDA Championship, [6] although they lost both their bouts, to finish sixth.
The Charm City Roller Girls (CCRG) is a flat track roller derby league in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 2005, Charm City is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
The New York Shock Exchange (NYSE) is a men's roller derby league, based in New York City. The league consists of four teams, two interleague teams and three intra-league teams.
The Men's Roller Derby Association (MRDA) is the international governing body of men's flat track roller derby. It was founded in 2007 under the name Men's Derby Coalition, and currently has 60 men's leagues under its jurisdiction. MRDA member leagues play using the rules of Flat-Track Roller Derby originally designed by the WFTDA.
One skater from Pioneer Valley was selected for France at the 2011 Roller Derby World Cup. [7]
Roller Derby France represents France in women's international roller derby, in events such as the Roller Derby World Cup. The team was first formed to compete at the 2011 Roller Derby World Cup, and finished the tournament in seventh place.
The Roller Derby World Cup is an international women's roller derby tournament formerly organized by Blood & Thunder magazine, and currently organized by the Roller Derby World Cup Committee. Teams of amateur skaters from around the world compete for their respective nations.
