Cherry City Roller Derby

Cherry City began as Cherry City Derby Girls in 2009, with the prompting of Ryan Rogers of Culture Shock of Salem.[2] There were no tryouts initially and over 100 women signed up for the league. The first official practice occurred on April 6, 2009.[3] The league's formal end-of-season event, the Black and Red Ball, commemorates this event in April each year.

By March 2010, Cherry City was attracting more than 3,000 fans to its bouts,[4] while the team's skaters ranged from 18 to over 50 years old.[5] CCRD has also hosted a junior roller derby program, the Cherry Blossoms, since 2012. This is open to all genders, ages 7 to 18.[6][7]

The league was accepted onto the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice Program in July 2010,[8] and became a full member of the WFTDA in December 2012.[9] Cherry City played their first WFTDA sanctioned game on March 30, 2013, defeating the Sick Town Derby Dames 233-158. In September 2013, Cherry City hosted a WFTDA Division 1 Playoff,[10] and was featured as "League of the Month" for October.[11]

In 2016, the league rebranded as Cherry City Roller Derby.[12] The change was aimed to be more gender-inclusive to non-cisgender members and volunteers. This also reflected a change in the junior program which now began to allow all genders.

At the end of Season 9 in May 2018, CCRD retired the four existing home teams: Dolls of Anarchy, Thrill Kill Kittens, Rydell Belles, and Panty Raiders. This was in order to facilitate a restructure for the following season. Season 10 opened with three newly-formed teams in September 2018: 8-Wheel Assassins, Boneyard Brawlers, and Capital Punishers. In 2019, Capital Punishers changed their name to Renegades.[13] 8-Wheel Assassins is a travel team, competing against teams from other WFTDA leagues. The Boneyard Brawlers (BYB) compete regionally, and Renegades compete on a strictly local level.

Though skating members pay for their membership, many people involved in the CCRD community do not. Often these hard working affiliates of the CCRD league are volunteers that help with Bout Production. These affiliates enable CCRD to maintain quality bout productions while lowering the overhead costs of these events. Without the help of the community and their volunteers, CCRD would not be able to thrive as it does today. Because of this, CCRD is always extremely grateful for the volunteers that have come from the community.

There are six charities that are affiliated with CCRD currently. These charities receive 100% of the proceeds from raffle tickets that are sold during roller derby bouts hosted by CCRD. Additionally, CCRD will participate in events as volunteers with these charities throughout the year.

CCRD is also named as a caretaker in the Adopt a Street program for Salem, Oregon.

Cherry City Roller Derby is responsible for a section of D Street in Salem, Oregon running from 5th street to 20th street. The quarterly event they hold is called the "D Street Clean-Up" by CCRD members. Adult and junior skaters, and CCRD affiliates can be seen on this stretch of street periodically throughout the year in orange vests cleaning the neighborhood.