Atlanta Men’s Roller DerbyAustin AnarchyBridgetown Roller DerbyBrisbane City RollersCapital City HooligansCarolina WreckingballsCasco Bay Roller DerbyChicago Bruise BrothersChinook City Roller DerbyCleveland Guardians Roller DerbyCollision Roller DerbyCrash Test BrummiesDenver Ground ControlDetroit Men’s Roller DerbyDisorderEast Midlands Open Roller DerbyGolden State HeatGranite City BrawlersHelsinki Coast Quads Roller DerbyHouston Men’s Roller DerbyIndependentKent Men’s Roller DerbyLane County ConcussionMagic City MisfitsManchester Roller DerbyManneken BeastsMass MaelstromMohawk Valley Roller DerbyMontreal Men’s Roller DerbyNew Orleans Brass Roller DerbyPanam SquadPhiladelphia HooligansPittsburgh Roller DerbyPuget Sound Outcast DerbyRace City RebelsSan Diego AftershocksSouth Wales SiluresSaint Louis GatekeepersThe Inhuman LeagueToronto Men’s Roller DerbyTyne and Fear Roller DerbyVancouver MurderVarsity Derby LeagueWisconsin United Roller Derby

Membership Requirements

Becoming an MRDA Member League:

Being part of MRDA comes with certain benefits and responsibilities. Some benefits include: ability to compete in MRDA Sanctioned events and tournaments; access to discounted insurance options, with built in reciprocity with WFTDA; having a voice in the direction of men’s roller derby. Since you will have voting rights, you will be expected to dedicate a certain amount of time to committee work and contribute to regular organizer discussions.

To Prospective Members:

Applications will be accepted from January 1st through September 31st of each year. Member leagues that are accepted will be required to pay an entry fee of $325 within 30 days of acceptance..

Requirements:

In order to become a member of the Men’s Roller Derby Association, your team/league must

  1. Have a Fully rostered Men’s Team consisting of a minimum of 10 skaters
  2. Be Skater-Owned and Operated
  3. Play by The Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby
  4. Have Played 5 Full-Length Games as a Team
    1. At Least One Game Hosted by Applying League
    2. At Least One Game Against Current MRDA Team
  5. Have At Least 2 Letters of Recommendation
    1. One must be from a member of a MRDA league you played in a game on your application, speaking on behalf of their league
    2. The other may follow the same guidelines as the first letter, or may be from a MRDA Recognized Official who has officiated a game on the application
  6. Submit a MRDA Application

Details:

1. Full Team:

The Men’s Roller Derby Association encourages the advancement of flat track roller derby. We firmly believe that the development of derby should start from the ground up: skaters getting together, learning the game and playing together, as well as growing the sport within their community through recruitment. The required number is for the purposes of admittance, after acceptance each Member League is expected to adhere to its own membership regulations and requirements.

2. Member Owned and Democratically Operated:

In the tradition of flat track roller derby, we will only accept leagues and teams that are member owned and operated. Which is to say “not owned by a corporation” and exclusively owned, managed, and run by league participants. The MRDA is operated by members, for members, and by democratic principles. A copy of each league’s business filings with applicable governmental authorities, along with submitting of business ownership information and governance structure, will be collected in the application process, and annually after that as members.

3. Plays by the Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby, as published by WFTDA:

MRDA, in conjunction with WFTDA, helped to develop and refine the Rules Of Flat Track Roller Derby previous to 2020. MRDA teams play by this ruleset in sanctioned and regulation gameplay. Applying leagues must show they are experienced with all facets of this ruleset, including appendixes and most recent updates, by successfully completing games under the ruleset during the application process.

Visit our Resources page for a copy of the Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby.

4. Has Played 5 Full-Length MRDA Regulation Games as a Team:

Why is this important? The idea is that you have a cohesive group of skaters who train together and have developed a unique team identity, follow The Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby, and adhere to appropriate risk management guidelines as is required for the use in sanctioning games. Public games games demonstrate you have a functional team/league.

Full length games are 60 minute, interleague competitions between a team in your league and a team on another league. These games must be MRDA Regulation games. (see attached for additional info) They may be part of a doubleheader.

Local Games
You must organize and host at least 1 local game. The game you host does not need to be a public event, but this will be weighed on your application. MRDA wants to see that you are capable of hosting games which are open to the public- even if you only plan to do so rarely. We believe that showing men’s roller derby to your local audience is important for our sport, and we want to see that as a league you are capable of putting on these types of events with all the various requirements that go along with it. We are looking for verification that your league took an active role with such areas as: securing a venue, writing and signing contracts, venue setup, verification that the event matches risk management guidelines, advertising for the event, staffing the necessary non-skating positions in the venue, obtaining qualified referees and NSO’s, etc.While each of these is not a strict requirement in itself, MRDA takes the overall picture of your league’s role as a host into account.

Co-hosted games may count for this requirement as well, but require an additional submission from someone in a leadership position with the league you co-host with, specifying exactly what role you league took in organizing the co-hosted game. We need to see that your members took and active role in the same areas as if you hosted on your own.

Employing guest skaters to play as part of your ‘team’ is highly discouraged and may keep you from being considered. If you’re not sure if your games meet the MRDA’s criteria – please contact our Director of Member Relations. Questions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Intraleague Games
For leagues that are geographically isolated, MRDA will consider intraleague games toward the 5 game requirement with prior approval. An intraleague season (consisting of no less than 2 games between teams in the same league) will be regarded as a single MRDA Regulation Game for the purpose of membership eligibility. As important as it is to create a local fan base and generate revenue, it just as important to skate with other teams, share ideas and network. This will help to grow the community of Men’s Derby on a broader level.

5. At Least 2 Letters of Recommendation

We would like to hear from one of the MRDA member teams that you competed against in a game, to get their impression of your efforts towards the values that the MRDA is looking for in it’s member leagues. Sportsmanship, game production and many other factors are those details that really help in our acceptance process.

The other Letter of Recommendation may follow the same guidelines as the first letter, or can come from a MRDA Recognized Official who worked one of the games being used on your membership application, attesting to your league’s understanding of the rules, and sportsmanship.

6. Submit an MRDA Application

All applying leagues must submit an application complete with the Letters of Recommendation and Rosters for all games counting towards eligibility. Typed applications strongly preferred. It will be required that all submitted rosters be signed off by the opposing team’s captain complete with contact info for that league.

Download MRDA Membership Application

When complete, email it to the Director of Member Relations.

What to Expect:

After your application is submitted, Please allow up to 3 weeks for your application to be processed and put before the membership. Once the application is deemed complete and requirements are met, the MRDA member leagues will discuss and vote on your application.

For more information on becoming a member league – please contact our Director of Member Relations