Sheffield Steel Roller Derby (SSRD) is a flat track

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...

league based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Founded in August 2008, SSRD are a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).

League Structure

The league has over 70 members making up two competitive teams, the All Stars (A) and the Crucibelles (B). A number of skaters also train as a non-competitive, recreational group called the Molten Mavens. Since 2016, the league run a junior roller derby team, the Sheffield Steel Junior Rollers. Members of the team include students, teachers, engineers and other professionals, ranging in age from late teens to mid-forties and beyond. Sheffield Steel Roller Derby practice three times a week with extra sessions outdoors during the summer. The league is a skater-run organisation, managed by a committee of elected officers who head up sub-committees in areas such as training, media, merchandise, sponsorship and events. Officers are re-elected annually, as are the league Captain and Vice Captain.

History and organisation

Pauline Chalmers (

derby name A derby name, roller derby name or skater name is a nickname used by a skater while playing or officiating roller derby. Derby names can be seen as an opportunity to adopt an alternative on-track persona. Many derby names are puns, and in some ...

Jane Doe-a-Go-Go) established the league as Sheffield Steel Rollergirls in August 2008, after moving to the city to meet new friends and gain new experiences. After discovering roller derby online and finding that there was no team in Sheffield, she created a

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

profile to find interested locals. In March 2010, the league received a £700 grant from the '' Sheffield Telegraph'' as part of the South Yorkshire Community Foundation's Grassroots Grants programme designed to fund worthwhile projects in Sheffield. This allowed the league to organise their first home bout at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in July 2010. On 3 September 2011 the league's B team, the Crucibelles, debuted against Newcastle Roller Girls' B team, the Whippin' Hinnies. This was a double header that also saw the All Stars play Newcastle's A Team, the Canny Belters. Sheffield Steel Rollergirls entered the WFTDA Apprentice Program in July 2012,WFTDA Accepts 35 Apprentice Leagues
, WFTDA, 16 July 2012 and became full members of the WFTDA in June 2013.WFTDA Welcomes First Full Member Leagues in Asia and South America
, 6 June 2013 In January 2019, the league changed its name to Sheffield Steel Roller Derby as a move to reflect the inclusive nature of the league and the sport as a whole.

National Team Representation

At the 2014 Roller Derby World Cup, Holly Hotrod (17) was part of the Team England training squad while Glenys the Menace was on the Team Wales Roller Derby squad. Erica Mitchell-Packington (She-Rarr, 242) was part of the West Indies Roller Derby squad the same year, and on their management team for the 2018 Roller Derby World Cup. Her Sheffield teammate, Madge Juicer (5), was on the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

squad in 2018 and Tom Pritchard was bench coach for the West Indies Roller Derby squad at both the 2014 and 2018 Roller Derby World Cups. The league's Athanasia Carghiaur (Athas' Sin, 11) was in the Romania Roller Derby squad for the 2018 Roller Derby World Cup.

WFTDA rankings

*Please note that rankings were suspended in March 2020 in light of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. * ''NR = no ranking assigned in this release''

Early games

Sheffield Steel Rollergirls vs Nothing Toulouse - 2014-03-29 - 8819

¹ ''Results from Sheffield Steel Rollergirls' view''

In the media

Sheffield Steel Roller Derby have been featured in the Sheffield Telegraph, and the ''

Sheffield Star ''The Star'', often known as the ''Sheffield Star'', is a daily newspaper published in Sheffield, England, from Monday to Saturday each week. Originally a broadsheet, the newspaper became a tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid in 1993. ''The Sta ...

''. The SmashDance event was also mentioned in Exposed Magazine. Sheffield Steel Rollergirls appeared on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

's '' ITV Calendar'' on 22 April 2010. They have also had a number of appearances on BBC Radio Sheffield. On 10 November 2010, the team featured on

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

. On 4 December 2010, the team featured on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

Sportsround (repeated on

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

on 5 December 2010) as part of an "Alternative Sports Special". Erica Mitchell-Packington (derby name She-Rarr) featured in the documentary film On the Road to Dallas, which explores the lives and preparations of a group of roller derby players as they get ready for the Roller Derby World Cup.

In the community

On 9 April 2010, Sheffield Steel Rollergirls took part in the Showroom Cinema's premiere of '' Whip It''. Ten members of the league completed the Goodwood Roller Marathon in August 2010, raising over £1,200 for the Sheffield Children's Hospital. A group of skaters from the team completed the 2011 Goodwood Marathon for the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...

and the Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice in Sheffield. More recent charity events have concentrated on raising awareness and donations for The Homeless Period.

References

External links

Sheffield Steel Rollergirls Bout Photos

A Team results on Flat Track Stats

Crucibelles results on Flat Track Stats
{{WFTDA Division 3 Roller derby in England Roller derby leagues in the United Kingdom Women's sports clubs and teams in England Roller derby leagues established in 2008 Sports clubs and teams in Sheffield Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 3 2008 establishments in England