Richter City Roller Derby is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Wellington, New Zealand. Founded in 2007, the league currently consists of three intraleague teams, and two interleague teams. The league's colours are orange and purple. Richter City is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
History Richter City gained early publicity by performing demonstrations at the 2008 Dance Your Socks Off! Festival."Get your skates on and boogie at the disco", Wellington City Council, 1 September 2008 Their first bout in March 2009 sold out the basketball hall used as the venue.
In late 2009, the league held its first season of intraleague competition,"Richter City Roller Derby: Skate of Emergency", Undertheradar which saw crowds averaging 950 people.Hadyn Green, "Skate Highway One: New Zealand's First Interleague Bout!", Blood and Thunder #15, pp.36-38 In mid-season the league moved its bouts to TSB Bank Arena as spectator crowds were exceeding the capacity of the previous venue, a basketball hall.Stacey Wood, "Whipping their sport into shape", The Dominion Post
In 2011 the league won the Air New Zealand Personality of the Year Award at the Wellington Sports Awards, beating Lower Hutt boxing identity Billy Graham, All Black Piri Weepu, and veteran sports broadcaster Keith Quinn in the popular vote.Dominion Post, "Repeat victory fr Herbert, Retrieved 11 December 2011.Wellington Sports Awards, "2011 WINNERS", Retrieved 11 December 2011.
In July 2012, Richter City was accepted as a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice Programme,"WFTDA Accepts 35 Apprentice Leagues ", WFTDA, 16 July 2012 and became a full WFTDA member in December 2013.
Intraleague competition
In 2009 and 2010 two teams contested the intraleague competition; Brutal Pageant (pink & red/beauty pageant theme) and Smash Malice (leopard print/trailer trash theme). By mid-2010, a bout attracted a crowd of more than 3,500 people.
In 2011 the intraleague competition was expanded to include a third team; Comic Slams (blue & silver/super hero and Comic Sans font theme).Word on the Street, "The Fright Before Christmas", Retrieved 11 December 2011. Comic Slams made the season final, but were beaten by Smash Malice in the title bout.The Dominion Post, [www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5299195/Smash-Malice-win-roller-derby-final "Smash Malice win roller derby final"], Retrieved 11 December 2011.
Richter City's current intraleague teams are beer-themed in honour of Garage Project. Garage Project has sponsored Richter City for over a decade and Richter City wanted to honour their support by theming the 2025 home teams after the local brew company. Home Brew 2025 will showcase the Stone Cold Classics and the Craft Heads battling for the victory. https://www.richtercity.co.nz/home-teams
Domestic interleague competition
Richter City has two interleague teams. The A Team are called the All-Stars and the B team are known as the Convicts.
In late 2009, Richter City hosted New Zealand's first intercity bout against Pirate City Rollers' All Scars, losing 88–174 in front of a crowd of 1,200 people. In December 2010, the All Stars faced the All Scars again, this time in Auckland, with the Pirate City team victorious again.Word on the Street, "Taking it Trans-Tasman", Retrieved 11 December 2011.
All-Stars Date Event Nickname Venue Opposition League Opposition Team Result 20 August 2011 Capital Punishment YMCA, Auckland City Pirate City Rollers, Auckland All Scars Loss 15 October 2011 N/A Kensington Stadium, Whangārei Northland Nightmares, Whangārei Hell's Wives Win 12 November 2011 N/A Pioneer Stadium, Christchurch Dead End Derby, Christchurch All Stars Win 156-67 3 December 2011 The Fright Before ChristmasWord on the Street, "The Fright Before Christmas", Retrieved 11 December 2011.Under the Radar, "Capital Punishment: Pirate City Rollers vs Richter City Roller Derby", Retrieved 11 December 2011. TSB Bank Arena, Wellington Dead End Derby, Christchurch All Stars Win
Convicts Date Event Nickname Venue Opposition League Opposition Team Result 3 September 2011 Grazed Anatomy Arena 3, Palmerston North Taranaki Roller Corp, New Plymouth Rumble Bees Loss 3 September 2011 Grazed Anatomy Arena 3, Palmerston North Swamp City Roller Rats, Palmerston North Swamp Rats Loss 3 December 2011 The Fright Before ChristmasManawatu Standard, "Swamp Rats ready to roll at Arena 3", Retrieved 11 December 2011. TSB Bank Arena, Wellington Hellmilton Roller Ghouls, Hamilton Raggedy Angst Win
International Competition In June 2010, several Richter City skaters attended the Great Southern Slam, the Asia-Pacific region's first roller derby tournament, skating as guests of Western Australia Roller Derby.Beck Wise, "Preview: Great Southern Slam ", Derby News Network, 10 June 2010 Richter City itself did not compete.
In March 2011, Richter City hosted New Zealand's first international roller derby bout, pitting the All Stars against the Sydney Roller Derby League's Assassins.The Wellingtonian, "Roller derby goes international", Retrieved 11 December 2011. The All Stars lost the bout 164–128.The Wellingtonan, "Sydney team takes out roller derby bout", Retrieved 11 December 2011.] In November, the Richter City All-Stars traveled to Sydney for the away leg of their home-and-away tie against the Sydney Assassins. Again, the Assassins proved too strong and Richter City took a second loss.
In October 2011, Richter City skater Merryn "Tuff Bikkies" McAulay and former Richter City skater Michelle "Perky Nah Nah" Jackson were selected to play for Team New Zealand at the inaugural Roller Derby World Cup, played in Toronto in December 2011.Roller Derby Team NZNewswire.co.nz, "Roller derby skaters get serious for worlds", Retrieved 11 December 2011. Team New Zealand placed 8th out of 13 teams.
WFTDA rankings SeasonFinal ranking"Current Rankings", WFTDAPlayoffsChampionship2015157 WFTDADNQDNQ2016168 WFTDADNQDNQ2017180 WFTDAhttps://stats.wftda.com/rankings?r=2440DNQDNQ2018249 WFTDAhttps://stats.wftda.com/rankings?r=2450DNQDNQ2019130 WFTDAhttps://stats.wftda.com/rankings?r=2841DNQDNQ20239 Oceaniahttps://stats.wftda.com/rankings/oceania?r=5176DNQDNQ202411 Oceaniahttps://stats.wftda.com/rankings/oceania?r=7199DNQDNQ
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