Bill Bogash

Who was Bill Bogash?

Bill "Flash" Bogash was a roller derby skater and coach.

Born in Chicago, he began his career in 1935 during the Great Depression, and skated until 1958.

Bogash's career began after he and his mother attended the first Transcontinental Roller Derby in Chicago of 1935, a six-week race that tracked skaters' total distance traveled in laps around a track on a US map. He and his mother, Josephine 'Ma' Bogash joined the second race in September of that year, in Kansas. After racing with many teams throughout the 1940s, Bogash led the New York Chiefs to their first Roller Derby World Championship in 1949. Towards the end of his career, Bogash skated for the Los Angeles Braves.

After retirement in 1958, Bogash went on to be a restaurateur in Los Angeles, California. He died of respiratory failure on March 20, 2009.

He was inducted into the National Roller Derby Hall of Fame in 1953