That’s right – the Arizona Derby Dames are bringing banked track roller derby to Phoenix for their 2010 season! After a very successful 4^th season at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 2009, the Arizona Derby Dames have been hard at work in their off season building and training on their very own roller derby banked track (a traditional roller derby type sloped oval track, constructed of wood, steel & masonite). The season kicks off on Saturday, March 20^th with a double header that matches the Schoolyard Scrappers against the Brutal Beauties and the Coffin Draggers against the Runaway Brides.

The banked track will bring a whole new dynamic to the Derby Dames’ game. Speeds will be faster, hits will be harder, and the competition will be more heated. And though the Brutal Beauties hold the final Arizona Derby Dames flat track title, with multiple vets retiring at the end of 2009, players switching teams in the off season, rookies drafted to teams at the very end of the 2009 season, and new skills and strategies needed for the banked track roller derby game, 2010 could be any team’s season.

Only a handful of modern roller derby leagues in the world own and skate on a banked track. Arizona Derby Dames are proud to be bringing a traditionally inspired brand of roller derby with a new age twist to their hometown. Arizona Derby Dames joins the ranks of the all-women, skater-run roller derby leagues like the Los Angeles Derby Dolls, the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls in Austin, Red Dirt Rebellion Rollergirls in Oklahoma City and the San Diego Derby Dolls that are the new breed of unscripted, ultra-competitive, 100% real banked track roller derby. Designed by Kitten Traxx Banked Track Design based in Los Angeles, but built by the skaters of the Arizona Derby Dames with the help of a group of extremely dedicated and hard-working engineers, volunteers and Arizona Derby Dames support staff, this banked track and the upcoming monumental 5^thseason is a culmination of four years of dedication and hard work by the women of the Arizona Derby Dames to reach the original goal of the founders of the league of becoming a modern banked track roller derby league.

Excitement is building and tickets are selling fast (over 1,000 tickets were sold in just 24 hours when Arizona Derby Dames banked track debut was a Phoenix Groupon feature this month – smashing Groupon’s previous national roller derby feature record of 188 tickets). Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum is located at 1826 W. McDowell Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85007 (602-252-6771). Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. with the bouts starting at 7:00 p.m. General admission tickets for the stadium seats in the Coliseum will be $12. Two hundred general admission tickets are available for standing room on the floor around the track for $12. General admission for children 12 and under is free. VIP tiered seating right off the floor (with access to a nearby VIP only bar and restrooms) will be $20 for adults and children. Parking will be $10. Tickets will be on sale the day of the event at the Coliseum box office starting at 5:00 p.m. Advance tickets may be purchased at brownpapertickets.com where group discounts are also available. Stick around for the after party right inside the Coliseum at the Arizona State Fair Bar & Grill. Meet with the Arizona Derby Dames over some great food and drink and discuss the night’s bouts. All ages are welcome, but you must be over 21 to be served at the bar.