Metro area Columbia, SC Founded 2007 Venue Jamil Temple | Country United States Track type(s) Flat Affiliations WFTDA | |
The Columbia QuadSquad (CQS) is a roller derby league based in Columbia, South Carolina. Founded in 2007, the league consists of the Allstars, who represent the league in WFTDA interleague competitions around the country, the Miss B-havers, the b-level travel team, and three home teams: the Belles on Wheels, Capitol City Vixens and Spawn of Skatin'. The league also has a junior derby team, the Columbia QuadSquad Minis.
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League history
Founded in March 2007 by eight local women, Columbia played its first bout in August 2007. In April 2009, it hosted and won the first South Carolina state championships, defeating the Lowcountry Highrollers and the Richland County Regulators. It has attracted attention for the diverse jobs held by its members, including a figure skater and an aquatic biologist, while its coach is a law professor at the University of South Carolina.
The QuadSquad was accepted into the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice Program in April 2011, and became a full member of the WFTDA in March 2012.
The league was described in the local Free Times as having "regional dominance". Columbia defeated the Carolina Rollergirls in February 2012, following which, it was ranked at number 25 in the Derby News Network Power Rankings. Announced a few hours before becoming a full WFTDA member, Columbia QuadSquad was the second apprentice league ever to enter the Power Rankings, after the London Rollergirls.
In 2016, Columbia hosted a WFTDA Division 1 Playoff tournament at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, which was forecasted to create over $300,000 in economic impact.
WFTDA competition
Columbia QuadSquad, ranked at the time 41st in the WFTDA, was selected to play in the 2013 WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs. They competed in Asheville, N.C. September 20–22, 2013. Columbia entered the weekend as the 10th seed, and ultimately finished in 10th place. In 2014, Columbia again qualified for Division 1 Playoffs, entering the Charleston tournament as the 9th seed, and finished in 8th place. In 2015, Columbia dropped into Division 2 Playoffs as the 3rd seed in Cleveland, and ended the weekend in 9th place. In 2016, Columbia returned to Division 1 Playoffs and competed at the tournament they themselves hosted, finishing the weekend with their opening seeding, in 8th place.
Southern Discomfort tournament
In late April 2014 the league hosted its first annual Southern Discomfort Tournament. This invitational tournament hosted 10 teams featuring Killamazoo Derby Darlins, Charlotte Roller Girls, DC Rollergirls, Nashville Roller Girls, Cape Fear Roller Girls, Garden State Roller Girls, Brandywine Roller Girls, Roc City Roller Derby, Charlottesville Derby Dames, and the Columbia QuadSquad themselves.