History of Zürich City Roller Derby
The team over a decade
Foundation
The first meeting of the Zürich City Roller GirlZ was held in 2009, initiated by Crash Test Ref, Swiss Army Wife, Dharma Sutra, Ela NoRegrets, Miss Behaving, Spookabella and Trash Can Baby. Crash and Swiss have already been active with the Terminal City Rollergirls in Vancouver, Canada and Dharmas Sutra was skating for Arizona Derby Dames, USA.
Crash and Swiss first trained with Stuttgart, but quickly realized that the commute to practice was too long. The idea of founding a team in Zurich was born – as the very first team in Switzerland ever. At the meeting in September 2009, 8 women and 1 referee met and founded the Zurich City Rollergirlz! However, it all started with no proper equipment and practices outside at Josefstrasse before they even got roller skates from the US (at that time the only place where you could get the quad skates) and organized a venue as training location.
Foundation meeting and first practices
First games
The first couple of games were all held abroad. The very first game happened in September 2010 when the Zurich City RollergirlZ travelled to Stuttgart to play against the Stuttgart Valley Rollergirlz (end score: 177 vs. 27 for Stuttgart). More games followed shortly after; Ludwigsburg in June 2011 (187 vs. 114 for Ludwigsburg) and Berlin in April 2021 (score not available but victory went to Berlin).
First bout
Evolution
In 2012, the time had finally come and Roller Derby celebrated its premiere in Switzerland, the first homebout of the Zurich City Rollergirlz took place in a sold-out hall in front of more than 400 spectators. Despite a broken leg of an opponent(!), Zurich lost 169 to 232 against Ludwigsburg. Further bouts followed before the first victory against Cologne Roller Derby could be celebrated in April 2013 (174:154) – in Zurich!
A lot has changed since then. From spontaneous improvised practices outside or in garages to structured and strategic trainings and the ambition to be highly competitive. A diverse group of athletes who have come together purely out of love of the sport and desire to build a community.
In 2015 the team became a full member of the WFTDA. Since then the team has been growing steadily, thanks to recruiting and newbie courses. In the meantime, there is an A and a B team. The biggest change took place in April 2018, when the logo and name were changed and the Zürich City Roller Girlz became Zürich City Roller derby.
Future
Our main goal is to further grow and expand our team and continuously improve our performance. However, the love for the sport and the fun to train together and reach a shared goal is first and foremost. We want to share the joy and inspire more and more people.
If you would like to follow our steps, check out the current WFTDA ranking of our A team here.
First homebout
Second homebout and first victory
Future
Our main goal is to further grow and expand our team and continuously improve our performance. However, the love for the sport and the fun to train together and reach a shared goal is first and foremost. We want to share the joy and inspire more and more people.
If you would like to follow our steps, check out the current WFTDA ranking of our A team here