Photographs taken and donated to History Colorado by Mike McGrath. The photographs document the sport of women's roller derby in Colorado.
Rocky Mountain Rollergirls was founded in 2004 and is Denver’s original all-women, flat track roller derby league. The athletes are from a variety of backgrounds. The Rocky Mountain Rollergirls are members of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), and winners of the 2010 WFTDA Championships. The United States Pummeling Service was formed in 2012.
Roller derby saw a resurgence in the late 2000s throughout the United States. In the Denver metropolitan area, two leagues formed during the 2004-2005 era: the Rocky Mountain Roller Girls and the Denver Roller Dolls (later known as Denver Roller Derby.) Both leagues are members of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. The structure of these leagues is such that there are home teams and travel teams. Teams for the Rocky Mountain Roller Girls include (as of January, 2020): Dooms Daisies, Red Ridin' Hoods, Sugar Kill Gang, Rocky Mountain Contenders, United States Pummeling Service, Kill Scouts, 5280 Fight Club, Project Mayhem and Rocky Mountain Rollerpunks. Teams for the Denver Roller Dolls include (as of January, 2020): Bad Apples, the Green Barrettes, the Orange Crushers, the Shotgun Betties, Mile High Club, Bruising Altitude and The Standbys. The Denver Roller Dolls changed their name to Denver Roller Derby in around 2015.