Seattle's first elite women's team formed in 1990 as Women on the Verge. (Riot's own Cat Pittack was one of the founding Vergins). Verge grew out of a casual traveling team, Seattle Sky, which played regionally in the late 80s. That fall, Verge went to UPA Nationals for the first time finishing 7th. They continued to be a strong Nationals contender throughout the nineties, finishing 5th in 1992, 3rd in 1994, 1997 and 1999, and making it to the finals in 1995 and 1998, losing both times to then dominant Lady Godiva of Boston. Verge's greatest successes came at the World Ultimate Club Championships, where the team took titles in 1995 (Millfield, UK), 1997 (Vancouver, Canada) and 1999 (St. Andrews, Scotland). With so many near misses at the national title, the team wondered if they were cursed: would they always be "on the verge?"

Despite adding new blood in the mid and late nineties, Leah Towne (1995), Vida Towne (1996), Sara GR, Kathy Scott, Vivian Zayas (all in 1997) and Deb Cussen (1999), the core of Verge went on to retire after the 1999 season. The younger players looked to 2000 for a fresh start, joining up with Kati Halmos, Beth Wise, and MAK to form a new team. After a tryout that drew more than 50 women, they took on many new faces including, Kristen Dailey, Britta Steele, Gayle Garson, Aida de la Cruz, Mizu Kinney and Sharon Goodwin.

Inspired by the mayhem of the 1999 WTO riots in Seattle, Riot charged into the Northwest region and shook things up. 2000 was a successful first year with the team going to the semifinals of major tournaments like Flower Bowl, Solstice and Tune Up. Despite beating tourney favorites Fury and Home Brood at Regionals that year, Riot went down to the strong squads of Prime and Schwa and had to stay home that October. The loss at Regionals starved the hungry Riot hurt locker. Trading in the baby blue shorts for Riot red in 2001, the team made their first appearance at Nationals, rolling all the way to the finals and finishing second to Godiva. In 2002, Riot brought home from Hawaii the fourth consecutive club world championship for Seattle.

Riot has four consecutive ECC championships, back to back wins at both Flower Bowl and Solstice, and three Northwest Regional championships. But 2004 brought a first. After a long wait, the Seattle women finally won a national UPA title. (If you ask Cat, Riot broke the curse of Verge. Finally, the 4-time world champ won her first nationals.) And then, in 2005, they won again.

2006 saw the return of many of Riot's core playmakers, with babies in tow, and a lone superstar rookie. It was a season of many successes, but ultimately, Riot finished 2nd to their long-time regional rivals, Bay Area's Fury. Which left Riot hungry again for the UPA title. 2007 brought a lot of turnover to the Riot roster, but not to the Riot spirit. After losing many of the original Riotesses and other more recent additions, Riot picked up 14 amazing new teammates that breathed rejuvenation and fire into the Riot ranks. With hard work and determination, Riot 2007 is molding into a great team and has high hopes for their upcoming trip to Nationals. See you in Sarasota!