The Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice was the program affiliate of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). In operation from 2009 until early 2019, the Apprentice Program served to onboard new member leagues into the WFTDA. In February 2019, the WFTDA announced it was retiring the program, to be replaced with a new "New Member Program" in the near future.
6-488: In July 2009, the WFTDA announced its new apprentice program for aspiring member leagues that replaced its traditional membership application process. The program is designed to act as a "WFTDA 101" tutorial, and will match new leagues with an established WFTDA mentor, who will guide the apprentice through the processes and requirements necessary to becoming a full member. Upon completion of the program, apprentice leagues will have
12-459: The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) are used to determine placement in overall standings (rather than win–loss record) and also to determine seedings at WFTDA Playoffs. Achieving high rankings is also a goal for teams aiming to increase their stature in the organization. Each year at the end of June, teams are seeded into Division 1 and Division 2 playoff tournaments. Historically,
18-638: The WFTDA announced the first round of Apprentice league graduates, and formed two new regions outside of the United States. Note: some leagues have changed their names since graduation from the Apprentice Program. The names of such leagues at the time of their graduation are preserved in the table below. Former Apprentice Program member leagues who left the program and did not become full WFTDA members are listed below. Women%27s Flat Track Derby Association Rankings Rankings for
24-473: The first non-American team to achieve the top rankings slot in WFTDA history. Ranking scores are calculated by averaging the number of game points a team earns in the last twelve months by the number of games played in the same time period. Game points are calculated using the following formula where the Win/Loss Factor is three (the base value of a game) multiplied by percentage of points earned in
30-515: The knowledge (and the recommendations) needed to apply for full WFTDA membership. The program ensures that applicants adhere to WFTDA standards for games, events and structure, and once accepted into the WFTDA, member teams qualify for international rankings . In November 2009 the WFTDA opened for worldwide membership and the London Rollergirls became the first league outside North America to join as apprentice members. In June 2010,
36-455: The top 40 teams in the WFTDA as of June 30 were eligible for Division 1 tournaments that season, and the teams ranked 41–60 were eligible for Division 2 tournaments. For 2017, the Division 1 cutoff was reduced to the top 36 teams, with the next 16 teams qualifying for Division 2 Playoffs. The 2017 WFTDA Championships winner, Victorian Roller Derby League from Melbourne , Australia, became
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