Casa Grande Roller Derby

Our mission is to "Provide and empower local women through the sport of roller derby, in Casa Grande, Arizona. We also strive to serve our community and support local charities, as a team." We just got the opportunity to take over our town's old High School Gymnasium as our base of operations. Outside of roller derby, we are now providing roller skating fitness, and promoting the art of roller skating culture to children, individuals, and families of Casa Grande.

Casa Grande Roller Derby was founded in 2017. Our team "The Big House Bombers was formed in 2018, and we began hosting home bouts in 2019 . Our home bouts bring in anywhere from 350-600 fans. Children 12 and under are free!!

From our inception, we decided that we wanted to bring roller derby to our little farm town, giving local women of all walks of life, something to do for fitness, as well as have a recreational outlet from their everyday lives that they wouldn't have otherwise. We also wanted to use our presence to get involved with our community and support other local charities. We feed the homeless and anyone in need of a meal, every 2nd Sunday of every month with our Lunch in the Park event. We have also spent time with our elderly residents in some retirement homes, as well and collect blankets and hygiene kits for those in need. We also participate in our local downtown events!

December of 2019 our City gave us an amazing opportunity, we will be moving into and revamping our town's old High school gymnasium as our home base of operations. This opens so many opportunities for us to expand our community outreach! We hope to expand our membership to include a non-contact team called " The Gliders " geared toward individuals of all ages over 16, mainly focused on adults. We also hope to offer a childrens class called "The Propellers" for ages 8 to 16. This will include roller skating arts and culture, skating lessons, and roller skating fitness offered through weekly classes. We want to share roller skating with future generations, and celebrate roller skating culture and re-connect with older generations!!

Our facility needs your help! It has been used for the Boys and Girls Club for the last 20+ years. It needs some immediate TLC! We need paint, laminate flooring, new hardware for doors, cabinets, new toilets and urinals, filters, 2 on demand water heaters, security system, and other furnishings and maintenance items. We will also need items for our community outreach programs. Ex. Lunch in the Park, Kids corner, rental skates (so underprivileged families can participate without having to buy skates and gear).

We have had to deplete a great portion of our nest egg with move in, fire code, and utility costs. We hope to be able to fundraise enough to revamp our facility, get our insurance for next year, and furnish our kids corner, so that we can immediately begin our practices as well as expand our community outreach.

Testimonials

The sport we play is about empowering women and providing an outlet for fitness, but it truly goes much deeper than that. It is also about inclusion and providing a safe space for people to be who they truly are, while bringing out the best in each other. The athleticism, drive, and ambition that we all must find deep within ourselves as we embark on this sport, and sharing the art and culture of roller skating with our community, is absolutely life changing. The things that we learn about ourselves and the inner strength that we find, begins to transfer into our every day lives outside of our sport. We begin to find inner strength and confidence as women, wives, parents, and in our professions outside of practice. Our league shares a family dynamic and support, on AND OFF the track. This translates into a solid foundation of individuals who have the drive and commitment to make a bigger difference than just playing roller derby and sharing it with the world. We want to show up for each other, and for our community. We see the true potential that OUR organization has to TRULY make a difference in our town!