To create a local and global sports community that is inclusive and transformative.
The Rose City Rollers mission is to serve women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals who want to play the team sport of roller derby, connect with an inclusive community, and realize their power both on skates and off.
Play strong, train smart, and have fun.
Be welcoming and embrace differences.
Respect the game and each other.
Keep making it better.
Bring your best self and trust others to do the same.
The Rose City Rollers league is made up of over 400 smart, tough, accomplished women, girls and gender expansive individuals who skate fast, hit hard, and defy stereotypes about athletes in women’s sports. Our league consists of 4 home teams, an internationally-ranked travel team, 2 junior derby programs, a developmental competitive program and a recreational program with skaters ranging in age from 7 to 60 years old. The Rosebuds and Rose Petals, our youth leagues, are comprised of more than 120 skaters. The Rosebuds skaters learn leadership skills through participation in all aspects of the organization. These young athletes learn about themselves, gain a sense of pride and empowerment by working together as a team towards a common goal. In fact all our skaters put in countless hours in support of our league and the local non-profits we partner with each quarter.
As an almost entirely volunteer-run organization, the Rose City Rollers offer opportunities for skaters and community volunteers to learn professional skills by working and training along side experienced professionals in the fields of media, film, marketing, development, event planning, graphic design, and more. Our volunteers also work hard to support local non-profit organizations whose missions resonate and reflect the RCR mission. We are hard at work building a strong, supportive, and welcoming community of skaters, fans, volunteers, and other organizations.
The skills, dedication and enthusiasm of our volunteers is evident in the professional quality of our events. We make every effort to provide our fans with a fun, safe, and friendly experience. The sport itself is exciting, the competition is fierce, and our special attention to lighting, announcers, video, DJ, merchandise, entertainment, giveaways, raffles, fan interaction and helpful staff make the fan experience memorable and entertaining. Our sold-out crowds are a testament to the fact that RCR puts on an awesome show! We are passionate about connecting with our community here in Portland and the greater Pacific Northwest. Fans have many opportunities throughout the year to interact with RCR skaters and staff at after parties, private bouts for season ticketholders, fundraising events, parades and more!
In line with our mission to foster an inclusive community, our league welcomes trans and gender-expansive athletes — regardless of their pronouns or gender presentation — who feel most comfortable playing women’s roller derby. Please see the WFTDA Gender Statement for more information.
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee exists to lead the Rose City Rollers in the essential intersectional work of making our sport and our league a place where past and present inequity and injustice are brought to the surface and addressed with compassion, honesty, and integrity, to the benefit of our membership and our surrounding community. We provide our league leadership and member body with resources, policies, and findings that break down barriers to participation and play, reinforce equal ownership and standing for marginalized league members, and build supportive relationships with communities our sport has historically ignored. We lead by example and approach this difficult work knowing it requires sustained commitment. When we make mistakes in the process, we will listen, adapt, and learn.
Rose City Rollers would like to acknowledge that our events are held on the stolen traditional lands of indigenous peoples. What we now call Portland, OR and Multnomah County were the traditional lands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Cowlitz bands of Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla and many other Tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River. Today, people from these bands have become part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, as well as the Chinook Tribe in Washington State.
We thank the descendants of these tribes for being the original stewards and protectors of these lands since time immemorial. We acknowledge that Portland, Oregon has one of the largest Urban Native American population in the U.S. with over 380 federally recognized tribes represented in the Urban Portland Metropolitan area. We also acknowledge the systemic policies of genocide, relocation, and assimilation that still impact Indigenous/Native American families today.
We are honored by the collective work of many Native Nations, leaders and families who are demonstrating resilience, resistance, revitalization, healing and creativity. Thank you, and thanks to the Portland State University Indigenous Nations Studies Program for helping to craft this acknowledgement.
RCR is excited to look for new ways to work with people and organizations to benefit and work with native communities.
The RCR Executive Director (ED) or majority of the RCR Board of Directors reserves the right to deny membership or visitation to anyone who has been accused of harassment, misconduct, or abuse if the claim is substantiated in the opinion of the ED or Board. Please see the WFTDA, MRDA, and JRDA united Anti-Abuse Statement and Call for Help for more information.
