I recently saw Whip It and the first roller derby team just signed up for WePay, so I’m on a pretty big roller derby kick right now.  Roller derby dates back to 1922 when it was controlled mainly by promoter Leo Seltzer.  Seltzer trademarked the name roller derby and toured his band of skaters around the US.  The homegrown sport quickly garnered attention for its spectacular displays of athleticism, teamwork and showmanship.  Eventually the appeal of roller derby (mostly due to the old model) began to die out.  By the late 70s roller derby had faded into the background.

In the early 2000s though, some spunky, athletic, fun-loving women revamped the sport.  What used to be mainly men turned into a sport that is now 98% women.  A grassroots movement occurred throughout the US that eventually spread to countries across the world.  The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) was founded in 2004 with the goal of “facilitating the development of athletic ability, sportswomanship, and goodwill among member leagues  In 2005, the WFTDA counted 50 leagues as members, in 2010 there are an astonishing 470 leagues.  Each of these leagues is comprised of multiple teams.  Many leagues have a travel team who represents them in bouts (what matches or games are called in roller derby) across the country.

While learning all of this what impressed me the most is the loyalty the derby girls have to the sport itself.  To be sure, the team is important, but every derby girl I’ve talked to is clearly most passionate about derby, not the team, the league or herself.  Many of these women devote countless hours not only to training themselves but also to team practices and league administration.  Aside from leading lives as students, professionals, wives, mothers, daughters, etc, they take time to make sure the sport they love continues forward in a way that will be fun and meaningful to all those involved.

As with any organization though this requires a lot of time and expended energy on bureaucratic nonsense. WePay can help roller derby girls collect and manage money for their team and league.

• sell tickets
• collect dues from teammates
• bill sponsors
• collect donations
• manage money separately for multiple teams in the same league
• divide expenses for travel team road trips

WePay allows leagues to do all of this on one site.  Currently, leagues use many different (and remarkably expensive) websites to handle their needs.  For example, some derby teams sell tickets using a service that charges an extra $2 per ticket.  Sometimes the teams don’t receive the money for up to a week.  Leagues often have to pay for the skating space before they receive this money.  

With WePay, derby derby girls can sell their tickets online, collect the money as soon as the transaction clears and cut a check for the space immediately.  And it’s only 50¢ per ticket.  Score one for the team!

I am super pumped about roller derby and excited to get involved (as a fan, I am in no way coordinated enough to even attempt skating).  I’m going to my first live roller derby on Saturday in San Francisco.  Can’t wait!!