Granite City Roller Derby (GCRD) is a roller derby league based in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Founded in 2008, the league currently have two teams which compete with teams from other leagues.

League Structure

The league consists of two travel teams: * Northern Fights (A, established 2008) * The Fight Hawks (B, established June 2015)

League history

Originating as the Aberdeen Aces, GCRD were the second roller derby league established in Scotland. The league struggled in the early days to find a training hall to practice in and resorted to skating in a local car park when weather allowed. In November 2008, the league began skating at the Aberdeen Lads Club, and was reborn as the "Granite City Roller Girls". In May 2010, the league hosted Scotland's first roller derby tournament, "Highland Fling". This was attended by Glasgow Roller Girls, Auld Reekie Roller Girls and Dundee Roller Girls. The league's A-team, the Northern Fights, came a respectable fourth in the competition out of 6 teams taking part. The tournament was attended by around 650 people over the course of the two days. GCRD have been members of the

United Kingdom Roller Derby Association The United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA) is the National Association for roller derby in the UK. The association was formed in 2010 with 15 member leagues, and was recognized by the British Roller Sports Federation soon after. The U ...

since 2011. Thought they aren't members of the association, they play to the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) ruleset. In June 2012, team captain Clinically Wasted (Carolyn Mackenzie) took part in the

2012 Summer Olympics torch relay The 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 19 May until 27 July, prior to the London 2012 Summer Olympics. The torch bearer selection process was announced on 18 May 2011. As well as touring the United Kingdom the schedule included the ...

, carrying the Torch through the local town of

Peterculter Peterculter ( sco, Petercouter), also known as Culter (Scots: ''Couter''), is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, about inland from Aberdeen city centre. Peterculter is on the northern banks of the River Dee, near the confluences with Crynoch ...

. In August 2013, The Northern Fights emerged victorious in the first ever "Quad Nations" tournament, hosted by Swansea City Roller Derby. The competition was between four teams representing England (Severn Roller Torrent), Northern Ireland (

Belfast Roller Derby Belfast Roller Derby (BRD) is a flat track roller derby league based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in January 2010, the league consists of two teams that play teams from other leagues, and is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby As ...

), Wales (Swansea City Roller Derby) and Scotland (Granite City Roller Derby). In June 2015, Granite City's B team, The Fight Hawks, was formed. On 12 September 2015 they made their debut at the Jack Kane Sports Centre, beating Lothian Derby Dolls 157 – 147. They also took part in 2016's "ARRGmageddon", an all-Scottish tournament hosted by Auld Reekie Roller Derby which took place in November 2016. GCRD received a fresh new revamp and a name change to Granite City Roller Derby in November 2015.

Five Nations Roller Derby Championships

The league took part in the inaugural

British Roller Derby Championships The Five Nations Roller Derby Championships is an annual competition for roller derby leagues in the United Kingdom. History The tournament originated as the End of the World Series, a 2012 league of six roller derby teams in central England. T ...

in 2015, qualifying for the Women T3 North tier. They lost four of their five games, against Dundee Roller Derby,

Sheffield Steel Roller Derby Sheffield Steel Roller Derby (SSRD) is a flat track roller derby league based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Founded in August 2008, SSRD are a member of both the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA) and the Women's Flat Trac ...

Liverpool Roller Birds Liverpool Roller Birds (LRB) are a flat-track roller derby team based in Liverpool, Merseyside. They joined the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA) in 2015, and became a member of the WFTDA Apprentice Program in December 2018. They ...

and Furness Firecrackers, but beat Halifax Bruising Banditas. The Northern Fights took part in the 2016 competition and placed first in Tier 4 North, having won all three of their games against Spa Town Roller Derby, Blackpool Roller-Coasters and Halifax Bruising Banditas. This earned them promotion, and they moved up to Tier 3 North for 2017, ultimately coming first in their section. To achieve this, they played Bath Roller Derby, Rebellion Roller Derby,

Dolly Rockit Rollers The Dolly Rockit Rollers (DRR) are a flat track roller derby league based in Leicestershire, England. Formed in January 2010, they are members of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), which they joined in July 2014. The league has ...

, Furness Firecrackers, Halifax Bruising Banditas, North Wales Roller Derby, Auld Reekie Roller Derby's All-Star Reserves (B) and Spa Town Roller Derby. The Fights went on to Tier 3 Playoffs and placed third overall. In 2018, they lined up in the Womens T3 Regional tier and won three-quarters of their games, beating Wakey Wheeled Cats, Halifax Bruising Banditas and Hallam Hellcats Roller Derby, and losing to

Nottingham Roller Derby Nottingham Roller Derby is a flat track roller derby league based in Nottingham, England. Founded in 2013, from a merger of two local leagues, it was the first league in the UK to host a co-ed roller derby competition. League Structure The ...

. They were elevated to the Womens T2 National tier in 2019, and lost all their games, defeated by Wirral Roller Derby, Hallam Hellcats Roller Derby, Arcadia Roller Derby and Hulls Angels Roller Derby. The competition rebranded in 2021 from the "British Roller Derby Championships" to the

Five Nations Roller Derby Championships The Five Nations Roller Derby Championships is an annual competition for roller derby leagues in the United Kingdom. History The tournament originated as the End of the World Series, a 2012 league of six roller derby teams in central England. T ...

National Team Representation

The league contributed two skaters, Carolyn Mackenzie (

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 c ...

Clinically Wasted) and Fight Cub (previously of Auld Reekie Roller Girls) to

Team Scotland Roller Derby Team Scotland Roller Derby represents Scotland in women's international roller derby, in events such as the Roller Derby World Cup. The team was first formed to compete at the 2011 Roller Derby World Cup, and finished the tournament in eleventh p ...

for the inaugural

2011 Roller Derby World Cup The 2011 Roller Derby World Cup was an international women's roller derby tournament organized by ''Blood & Thunder'' magazine. Teams of amateur skaters from around the world were fielded to compete for their respective nations. The inaugural 2 ...

. For the

2014 Roller Derby World Cup The 2014 Roller Derby World Cup is an international women's roller derby tournament organized by ''Blood & Thunder'' magazine. Teams of amateur skaters from six continents compete for their respective nations. The 2014 Roller Derby World Cup i ...

, the pair made a return to the Scottish roster, joined by teammate Jill Simpson (Rock'n Riot). Rock'n Riot stayed on for the Team Scotland 2018 Roller Derby World Cup roster, with Jo Mamma by her side.

References

External links

Official website

Granite City Brawlers
another Roller Derby team in Aberdeen {{DEFAULTSORT:Granite City Roller Derby Roller derby in Scotland Roller derby leagues in the United Kingdom Sports competitions in Aberdeen Roller derby leagues established in 2008 Women's sports clubs and teams in Scotland Roller derby leagues in Scotland 2008 establishments in Scotland