Ralph Valladares

Who was Ralph Valladares?

Ralph Valladares, often known as Ralphie Valladares, was a roller derby skater and coach.

Born in Guatemala, Valladares moved to Los Angeles with his family when he was twelve years old. He hoped to become a jockey, but his weight reached 115 pounds, and he turned his attention to roller skating. He joined the roller derby at the age of seventeen, initially skating for the Los Angeles Braves. He soon moved to the Miami Westerners and, despite being the shortest male skater, he immediately became regarded as a star, leading the scoring.

Valladares joined the rival Roller Games on its inception, in 1960, becoming a founder member of the Los Angeles Thunderbirds team. He spent the next thirty years with the organisation, and was involved in coaching, and also in setting up events in Japan and Australia. He retired from skating in 1987, but returned for the RollerGames television show.

Valladares kept the same skates through the majority of his career. He noted that he once ran over them with his own car, and they also survived being frozen under 2 feet of ice, following the evacuation of a venue in which he was competing.