Roller Derby's History - With the Bombers

American and International Roller Derby Roots

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Brief History of America's Favorite Sport

An American invention by Leo Seltzer, Roller derby currently appears internationally. It's a roller skating sport, and for some leagues it's sports/entertainment.

After Derby's Chicago debut in 1935, the roller marathon soon went "on the road" hitting dozens of cities with a large bulky track and staying in each town for several weeks and months. After two years, the marathon styled event changed into two co-ed teams of five skaters circling the pack, with each team sending out a "jammer" to skate around and lap members of the opposing team. Crowds experienced the first team sport where women played with the same rules as the men. The track evolved into a large forty-five degree elevated banked track with kick rails and guard rails to help protect the players of the game.

In the 1960's, the San Francisco Bay Area became the "hotbed" for roller derby when the sport evolved with more bone-crushing body contact and scoring strategies like Football. Women's role in the sport became more physical; and the female skaters became role models with athletic careers for independent women. The banked track changed again; smaller and portable enough to fit on any basketball court and the banks were lowered. Live banked track games sold out Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, Stockton and San Francisco arenas weekly. The Bombers were telecast live on Bay Area televisions and syndicated to over 120 cities across America. Full time teams toured in hundreds of one night stands across hundreds of cities each year, performing exhibitions.

The derby was a National TV staple, another zenith, through the 1960's and 1970's. In 1973 roller derby left Television screens and closed all full-time operations. For the first time in decades, skaters and staff were out of a full-time job. In 1974 the first of many part-time leagues organized. Some leagues and teams maintained limited TV markets. Even though it seemed like roller derby vanished ... it thrived through diverse and loyal fan bases since 1973.


Most amateur groups skate at local roller rinks and roller hockey rinks embracing an organizational model like amateur speed clubs (USARS).

Professional leagues that pay skaters compete on the banked tracks that draw exuberant crowds and become media-events. These professional groups train and hire young wheeled-athletes who have reinvented a co-ed game. (See www.jamthemovie.com as one example): 2009: Roller Derby movie on the big screen:

The Finest Skating Gear.

Give your children a fitness gift of skates.

Roller Derby Skaters use Speed Skates with Single Action Trucks

Skates and Equipment for all ages, sexes and budget !

2007: Two Non Fiction Books:


2006: Hollywood screens a new film:
A professionally filmed and produced documentary, titled JAM makes it's world premier showing. The film, produced by Mark Woollen, Scot Mitsui and Myles Bender won the Grand Jury Award - best documentary at the prestigious South by Southwest film festival in Austin Texas.
JAM features the Bay City Bombers heart tugging and slam bam tale of the American Roller Derby League.: For ongoing film updates go to www.jamthemovie.com.

Jam is on TV rotation schedule NOW: http://www.sundancechannel.com/schedule

Bombers - D. M. Bordner writes a dramatic novel titled: ROLLER BABES, the story of the roller derby queen.

5-stars

Hard cover and paperback copies available. A League of Their Own meets 1950s Roller Derby. Winner honorable mention in fiction writers contest. A 1950's story of an underdog, Lottie Zimmerman, who struggles against her family's wishes and finds fame in the world of women's roller derby.

"A page turner... Brings real derby back for me to enjoy once again... heartwarming.. moving and gripping. I actually cried with happiness."

2006: Rollergirls - TV show airs.

A&E's independent TV producers shoot and go into production for an entire year. They create fourteen episodes of Rollergirls, featuring the old Bay City Bombers banked track and the stellar skills of five year veterans, Austin's Lonestar Rollergirls.

Purchase the entire TV show set on DVD

The Rollergirls strip down and skate in punk/hip clothing. When pissed off, they fight each other with pillows. Ouch!

The TV show struggles to find and keep an audience. Controversy results.

Unfortunately, the show is cancelled a few months after it airs the first episode. The show started on January 2, 2006 and ended on April 2, 2006.

The show is now archived along with old-school history. TXRD is now over 9 years old and joins many other roller derby TV shows of the past. All exciting fourteen episodes are available on DVD.

2003: Charlie's Angels - Movie.

Hollywood comes calling to use the T-Birds and Bay City Bombers in an opening sequence for a new Charlie's Angels flick. Sony pictures asks for financial proposals.

This movie's brief opening scene features stunt skaters like Laura Weintraub, Denise Dadras and Stacey Blitch while the camera centers in on Cameron Diaz as a T-Bird. Laura and Stacey also appear as extras in a beach scene.

HISTORY: 1935: Roller Derby is Invented.

In 1935, during the worst times of the Depression Era, a business man gone sports promoter, named Leo Seltzer invented a spectacle he called the Transcontinental Roller Races staged at the Chicago Coliseum. From it's inception, the skating race included both sexes. Women in sports was unheard of in 1935. Since then, the roller sport has been an outlet for female athletes and empowered women for many decades. The derby has created well known stars.

Above, from the very beginnings, the roller races drew huge crowds.

Thousands attended the roller races that took place on a slightly raised skating

surface. Soon, the owners realized a 'special' banked surface was the only way to

showcase and transport their growing roller sport.

Originally intended to compete with then-popular dance marathons, the 1935 roller marathon simulated a cross-country roller race in which participants circled the flat track thousands of times pretending to cover the distance between Los Angeles and New York City.

Occasionally, crashes occurred as skaters tried to lap those who were ahead of them. Seltzer realized this was an exciting part of his invention and tweaked his game to maximize the carnage.

The 'race' idea was reformulated into a body contact sport. The ONLY way to incorporate and add more violence was to build a special banked track.

The creation of this marathon style race is dramatically fictionalized in moving detail in the novel Roller Babes. The story was assisted by many people who were still alive to share their experiences and derby folk lore such as Loretta Behrens, Terri Anderson, Gloria Christian, Ann Calvello, Billy Bogash and Buddy Atkinson Sr.

As in Roller Babes, Leo Seltzer's marathon employed energetic youngsters in their teens. Soon, Leo had a banked track built and called his sport the Roller Derby after the family's skate company.

1945 - 1957: The First Glory Days Of The Sport.

By the 1940s, roller derby rocketed into a popular live spectator sport. Teams represented U.S. cities. All teams and skaters were part of the Seltzer-owned league.

By the late 40s and 50s, the sport soared into it's first zenith of national and international fame. After barnstorming hundreds of games in towns without TV, the game and skaters were ready for live television broadcasts. Skating 7 days a week with weekend double headers and training programs in the day time, never were there roller athletes as powerful on skates. Perhaps this type of skater will never exist again.

The owner made a media smash with his roller derby troupe by appearing live on millions of small TV sets across America. The skaters timing was razor sharp and the sport was a huge hit.

Tens of thousands of fans support live games.

Throngs of fans attend live games in the 1950s. The troupe barnstormed across America, renting arena's, Armories and outdoor stadiums. A single live bout brought in 20 thousand middle class followers and more. Unlike most accounts, roller derby did not attract the lower class crowds. Roller derby was big league.

Roller Derby played the old 1950s Madison Square Garden

with top billing and regularly sold the Garden out.

An excellent 1950s movie was made titled Fireball:

Get this 11" X 17" movie poster or a DVD copy of this great movie.





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With pop songs, movies and huge live events, the 1950s derby craze drew attention from the Hollywood elite and upper class socialites. Audiences were well heeled. Games were visited by celebrities. Incredibly, there are a few skaters still alive to tell their stories such as Loretta Behrens, dramatically captured for historical sake in the novel Roller Babes.

The 1950s could not get enough of the banked track bouts.

The boom in the 50s deflated once television exploited the games by broadcasting them day and night. The media over saturated the sport.

The very thing that created roller derby's popularity, live TV, had become it's downfall.

1965 - 1973: Baby Boomers Roller Derby.

In the 1960's a facelift was needed and most of the original old time skaters left. Some were in their mid twenty's and considered old. New teen aged skaters found their way into the sport. Charlie O'Connel and Joanie Weston became Bomber captains and America's sweet hearts. They epitomized the next generational onslaught for the derby.

Jerry Seltzer moved operations to the west coast's Oakland and San Francisco Bay Area. Live telecasts appeared every Sunday from Kezar Pavilion in the Bay Area. Jerry innovated something new called syndicated video taped TV show's that were mailed out to hundreds of the nation's cities.

The TV show's were followed with traveling live derby games. One touring unit expanded into two units, employing four sets of teams, managers and staff. Because so many cities watched the TV show, the bouts skated by the traveling units packed major arenas across the nation with millions of followers.



          San Francisco's Cow Palace regularly                   Arena's around the country filled to

                sold out with over 14,000 fans.                        the rafters, 20-30 thousand fans.

Over 19 Million viewers watched the Bombers on TV each week.

America's heroes were Joan Weston and Charlie O'connel.

Their favorite team: the Bay City Bombers.



                           Joanie, the Blonde Bomber                        Charlie, Mr. Roller Derby

Featured in a Global TV Network Show             Featured in a Global TV Network Show

Ann Calvello played one of three female villains of the Derby who battled against Joan Weston, the Blonde Amazon. Ann had several nick names; the terrible Teresa, the Fiery Calvello and banana nose. As a skater, Ann skated about 1/3 of the time. She took many long breaks away from skating due to injuries and to birth her daughter. Even though she skated irregularly she gained notoriety for her wild colored clothes, hair, makeup and attitude.

The American Roller Derby League made a documentary of her, after her endless complaints fueled by persons in NY, the ARDL stopped distribution. These valuable interviews now appear on the Global TV Network weekly broadcasts for the world to enjoy. Much later another documentary was made titled The Demon of the Derby, while Ann skated for the ARDL's New York Demon team.

The entire ARDL documentary with studio out takes will appear on the Global TV Networks online Roller Derby TV shows.

Ann Calvello

Featured in several Global TV Network Shows

Joan Weston, Charlie O'Connel, and the Bombers became household names, and today, people remember them and their legendary team, the Bay City Bombers. This roller derby skated young performers starting at a virginal 15 years old. They were hardly teen's and skaters aged out at about twenty-seven. The franchise successfully rolled on for several decades.

The Seltzer organization had a promotional book written.

5-stars

Another book was written, it is now rare to find, titled Five Strides on the Banked Track, by Frank Deford.

5-stars

The Unholy Rollers (1972).

Sex-exploitation flick:

This poorly made movie shows girls in tattoo's and skirts trying to do roller derby. At times, this feature flick makes the "new" all-girls skirts and skin craze seem like a rerun of an old 1970's bad movie.

The Rollerball Movies.

A blockbuster 5-star movie, Rollerball, is produced with the building of a huge futuristic track located in Germany. Auditions for skaters are held at the roller derby training center in Alameda California.

Roller Derby skaters are paid a $10,000.00 salary for ten days of stunt-skating work. All expenses, travel, hotel and Mercedes Benz cars are provided to derby skaters. Derby stunt men work with the film star James Caane.

The Rollerball story predicts a future where mega corporations own everything, including sports franchises. Some would say, that prediction has come true. Another 2-star Rollerball movie appears in the 1990s. Own a DVD or movie poster.

1970s                           1990s





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These great 11" by 17" movie posters are also still available for true collectors:



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BIG SIZED 27" by 40" movie posters:





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More: Gigantic 40" X 30" Rollerball wall poster:

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EVEN MORE: Black wood framed Rollerball posters with various mat backgrounds:

For the professional collector.





5-big stars          5-big stars          5-big stars



The Queen of the Roller Derby.

All through the 60s 70s and 80s, The reigning queen, the Blonde Bomber, Joanie Weston gained the nation's attention as the first major female television athlete. Her story was optioned to Goldie Hawn productions at one time, anticipating Goldie would play Joan in a feature length film.

No one had seen anything like Joan. Promoted as the highest paid female athlete of the time, Joan came years before women like Billy Jean King. Joan's athletic enigma inspired millions of young girls, encouraging them to peruse their independent dream, and follow their hearts and play sports. Her moving fan letters are stored in the American Roller Derby League archives.

The Blonde Amazon, Joan Weston

Voted Roller Derby Queen more times than Any other skater.

The center piece of the BOMBERS, Joan Weston, an American heroine.

Millions of American's remember this roller derby.

1973: Seltzer's Roller Derby Closes.

Skating and working full time in any roller derby organization ended in 1973.

The closure devastates the skater's lives and leaves loyal fans yearning for the sport to return. With growing operating costs, TV problems, and new child labor laws the sport will never be a full-time job for a skater again.

Roller derby emerges as a sport for weekend warriors and a competing league, Roller Games (RGI) and eventually the IRSL (International Roller Skating League) take over the airwaves and country. Both leagues make a big splash.

1974 - 1988: Roller Derby Rolls into the 80s.

Seltzer's baby boomer league, the IRDL folded, leaving part-time leagues such as the IRSL and the Thunderbirds, Roller Games (RGI), to take over the television tubes as America searched for their favorite form of sports/entertainment.

Just after the Seltzer empire closed, Roller Games, Thunderbirds hired Joan Weston and others and kept the sport rolling in Southern California. Joan and the other roller derby skaters didn't stay long in Los Angeles and returned to the IRSL and their Bay Area home.

Unlike most accounts, the sport did not die. It was transformed by an ingenious entrepreneur named David Lipshultz in to a weekend attraction that lasted for another ten or more years.

For David Lipshultz's IRSL, the big crowds were still there. He employed the most famous skaters available through out derby's history and his games appeared on many TV networks, reaching millions of new viewers.

David Lipshultz's IRSL skated big arena's for over ten years.

IRSL drew 17,000 fans at Madison Square Garden.

The David Lipshuiltz's IRSL era opened doors for a new crop of skaters such as Alfonso Reyes, Terry Inabenette, Bill Groll, James Paul, Skinny Minnie Miller, Jan Vallow, Larry Lewis, B. J. Peterson, Jim Fitzpatrick, Sam Washington, Shirley Hardman, Louie Carabala, E. G. Miller, Ed Dresser, Sally Vega, Denis Clayborne, Deloris Holmes, Dave Marez, Ice Box, Gail Bowers, Tim Patten, Wilma Ryan, Issac Negron, Sherri Erich, Richard Brown and many more.

RGI took it's teams to Japan and skate the Tokyo Bombers to tens of thousands of fans.

By this time, women in aggressive sports roles was no longer a fresh idea. Each league, the IRSL and RGI, struggled with how to keep pace with televisions unstoppable need for new ideas, sex and violence.

Roller Games experimented with "edgy" material such as a 'lesbian character' infield coach, midgets, the Go Go girls who obsessed over putting on fresh makeup in the infield, and gay male characters. Roller Games produced a DVD:

In 1976, Charlie's Angels dedicates episode number 12 to Roller Derby, titled "Angels on Wheels". It is available when purchasing the entire first year of the Angels TV show on DVD:

A movie was produced featuring Thunderbird (RGI) skaters and one sexy Raquel Welch. The name of the movie, Kansas City Bomber.

Weston, T-Bird, large audience         Raquel Welch, Kansas City Bomber          Roller Games favorite, Parker





                   The DVD                               Wood framed poster choice of mat

   2-Stars                                                5-stars



11" X 17" Poster               27" X 40" Poster

RGI and IRSL close shop. Costs to rent arena's swell again and the fees for union labor to assemble and take down the banked tracks triple the operational expenses.

1989: World Roller Federation.

In 1989 to 1990, a league named the WRF (World Roller Federation) shot and produced 12 television shows and one hell of a promotional video titled DERBY WARS. The league incorporated the best of Roller Games and Roller Derby skaters. The TV shows aired in over twenty-five large cities on independent stations.

The most famous names in roller derby are in these DVD's

Calvello, Weston, Atkinson, Reyes, Lee, Paul, Washington, Sol, Patten, Baker, Ventura and more...

The former VP of the WRF has rights to these TV shows, and will sell copies of games to serious collectors.

1991: Rock n' Roller Games.

A new TV show called Rock n' Roller Games aired with skating obstacles like the wall of death, a figure eight track, the ski-jump and alligator pit.

The opening show featured famed punk rocker Deborah Harry, Blondie.

Skaters were recruited from the old Roller Games league, mixed with a couple new faces. The show may have been far ahead of it's time and left the airways after it's brief appearance.

Each of these groups, after huge successes and long struggles, closed their week-end operations.

Watch this exciting Roller Games video clip (1991)

      1988 - Now:  ARDL's Bay City Bombers.

Aside from the exciting surge of amateur teams, several professional, banked track leagues keep the sport alive. The leagues are named T-BIRDS, ARSD, NRDL and the ARDL.

NRDL - National Roller Derby League

In 1988, The American Roller Derby League, and American Skating Association took over; and kept operations in full swing out of the Northern California scene. The games featured the top professional 'derby and games' skaters in the world. The league operates with a dedicated administrative staff, who coordinate banked track and flat track events and promotions.

Now, 2008, The American Roller Derby League coordinate all efforts in Banked Track co-ed roller derby, focusing mainly on the Northern California region.

Aside from the Bay City Bombers, the ARDL founded:



In 1988 to 1992, the well known American league promoted fund raiser events along side high schools. The high school daze tours continued for three years with the events titled Roller-Jam.

Bay City Bombers 1992, Blue and Yellow uniforms vs. Los Angeles Turbos

Finally, the league made frequent visits to large metropolitan cities such as San Francisco, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, attracting thousands of loyal fans in each region.

The original organization formed in 1988 with Joan Weston and Tim Patten as part owners, and the Bay City Bomber franchise continued as the heart and soul of the wheeled sport.

1997-2000: Rollerjam National TV Show.

ROLLER JAM, a TV show, was the inspiration of famed author and roller derby historian, Keith Coppage along with board member, Ken Prince and legally marked by Tim Patten. After Joan Weston's sudden death, the producer of Roller Jam, Stephen Land recalled roller derby.

"What ever happened to roller derby?" Land asked. Soon he raised near ten million dollars to launch the biggest production, called RollerJam, of his career.

Rollerjam operations were completely organized out of Florida, by Tom Chasuk and funded by a cable TV operation, then called TNN, now Spike TV.

ROLLERJAM was then sold, by owner, Tim Patten to CBS/TNN for a sizable sum.

The TV show hit the national air waves with over 150 hours of exceptional programming.

Exceptional skaters were hired from all types of skating backgrounds. Only the finest athletes made it through the rigorous audition and training demands.

Keith Coppage wrote a factual book, titled Roller Derby to Rollerjam, that documented the sports transformation into the new inline Rollerjam.

5-stars

The show ran successfully for two years in America and was syndicated to more than seventeen foreign countries. In 2006 it was sold to United Kingdom, re-edited and airs every week.

It was a hit.

The original airing of TNN's Rollerjam's drew well over three million viewers, the highest viewed show in TNN's cable TV history.

The BAY CITY BOMBERS Continue.

The Bomber league moves into the digital and Internet age.
Skaters and fans write stories for the web site, video and audio pod cast streams are provided.

BOMBERS - A Photo History 1950s to Now.

This is the worlds most recognized derby trademark of all time.

With the franchise roots stretching back to the 1950s, today's Bay City team keeps true to tradition while reinventing itself with state of the art athletes and technologies.



1970's America's favorite Bomber team

1997 Bay City Bombers

Bay City Bombers greet thousands of fans

1998 Bay City Bomber's Distaff squad

Bay City Bombers team 1999

Bay City Bombers 2000

2002: The Bay City Bombers are greeted by young fans at live outdoor events

Bomber sponsor All-Girls in late 2005-2006

The American Roller Derby League is dedicated to preserving the sport's competitive spirit and passing on the essence of the game to new skaters with modern looks and appeal.
The www.batcitybombers.com web site focuses on educating the tried and true training methods that made the Bay City Bomber franchise the biggest and best known team that the world has ever witnessed. The team by the bay is able to hold onto a tradition while advancing the women's empowerment movement and sport far into the future.

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