Middlesbrough Roller Derby 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

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, England. The league is a member of the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport of women's flat track roller derby. It sets the international standards for rankings, rules, and competition in the sport, and provides guidance and ...

(WFTDA) and the

United Kingdom Roller Derby Association The United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA) was the member-led National Association for roller derby in the UK, with the aim of promoting and lobbying for the sport. The association was formed in 2008 but formalised in 2010 with 14 member ...

History

In September 2007, inspired by the

London Rollergirls London Roller Derby is a flat track roller derby league and a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). The league were founding members of the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA). The league has four travel teams ...

, Natalie Boxall (

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 ...

Germaine Leer) and Karen Slater (Bon Sleaze) founded the league under the name the Middlesbrough Milk Rollers. This made them the first roller derby league in the North East of England. They hosted the Northern EXPOsure roller derby exposition games on 19 September 2009, with commentary by Jet from

Gladiators A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

, which also featured Leeds Roller Dolls, Central City Roller Girls and Severn Roller Torrent. As well as taking part in bootcamps, bouts, and guest skating for other leagues, MMR also competed in the London Rollergirls' European tournament "Roll Britannia" in 2009 as part of the mixed team 'Royal Rebel Rollers'. This team was made up of skaters from Middlesbrough, Rebellion Rollergirls, and Windsor Rollergirls. In February 2012 the team received a lottery-funded

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded partners, ...

grant, making them the first roller derby league in the UK to receive one. The Milk Rollers took first place in the Great Yorkshire Showdown tournament in July 2012. On 22 September 2012, the league launched their B Team in a closed bout against the Norfolk Brawds, their first open bout being against the Newcastle Roller Girls Whippin' Hinnies. Middlesbrough Roller Derby plays by the rules of the

(WFTDA) and is a member of the UK Roller Derby Association (UKRDA). In April 2013, Middlesbrough was accepted as a member of the

WFTDA Apprentice Program The Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice was the program affiliate of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). In operation from 2009 until early 2019, the Apprentice Program served to onboard new member leagues into the WFTDA ...

. Middlesbrough became a full WFTDA member in July 2014. In March 2017, the league announced a rebrand as Middlesbrough Roller Derby.

National Team Representation

Ella Storey and Terri Sudron from the league have represented Team England at both 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 is ...

and

2018 Roller Derby World Cup The 2018 Roller Derby World Cup was the third international women's Roller Derby World Cup, taking place on February 1–4 at EventCity, in Manchester, United Kingdom, with 38 teams competing. An international roller derby tournament, it was or ...

WFTDA competition

Middlesbrough qualified for the Division 2 Playoffs and

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in 2017 as the sixth seed in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, but lost 163–156 to Columbia QuadSquad and also lost their consolation round game to

E-Ville Roller Derby E-Ville Roller Derby is a flat track roller derby league based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 2006, E-Ville was a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). E-Ville welcomes women, trans, and gender-expansive athletes ...

199–191 to finish out of the medals.

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 ...

. * ''CR = consolation round''

In the community

The league takes an active role in getting people in Teesside involved in roller derby and have organised and hosted fundraisers and events including running a

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as part of the 'We Are Open' project.

References

External links

FacebookTwitterFlickrMMR Help Promote Show us your Art for MIMA – 15 September 2012
{{WFTDA Division 2 Roller derby in England Roller derby leagues in the United Kingdom Roller derby leagues established in 2007 Sport in Middlesbrough Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 2 2007 establishments in England