The sport of women’s roller derby has made an enormous comeback, now with more than 30 leagues nationwide forming the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. Blood on
the Flat Track focuses on the Rat City Rollergirls of Seattle, who formed their league from
scratch in April of 2004. In the first season, the league started playing at a small rink in
front of about 200 fans; they now sell out of 1,500 tickets monthly. This film follows the
teams throughout its first two seasons and focuses on the women who comprise the
league, their teams’ struggle to win the championship bout and their relationships with
each other.

Armed with many of the league’s best players, the Derby Liberation Front (DLF) upset the undefeated Throttle Rockets at the 2005 Championships. Captain Lorna Boom is pregnant and unable to skate but Diva State, Burnett Down, Kitty Kamikaze, D-Bomb and the rest of the team continue to hold the team together and are thus far undefeated.

The Sockit Wenches endured a disappointing first season, coming in last place in the league, despite having several of the league’s “superstars”—including Pia Mess, Miss Fortune and Drew Blood—and have earned a reputation for having some of the “dirtiest” players (even in roller derby, there are illegal moves that will get you penalized). Their second season has been much more successful, thanks to the players’ and coach Chuck Bury’s (D-Bomb’s husband) hard work and the addition of “fresh meat” Shovey Chase (Kitty Kamikaze’s girlfriend) and Hot Flash (Miss Fortune’s mother). The Sockit Wenches quickly become the biggest threat to the DLF’s championship reign.

In addition to their regular season, the league has created an “All-Star” team to compete nationally against other leagues. Top athletes from DLF, the Sockit Wenches, the Throttle Rockets and Grave Danger start skating with, not against, each other with hopes of winning a national title. They discover that the team to beat is the Texas Rollergirls, the founders of the current roller derby incarnation and a big sister league to Rat City. The team travels to Tucson, and hosts a tournament at Bumbershoot in hopes of defeating the best league in the country.