Birmingham Blitz Dames (BBD) was a women's flat track

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

league based in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Founded in 2006, the league was 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, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Co ...

(WFTDA).

History

BBD was founded in October 2006 by American transplant Brenda Bentley (Bee Sting née Iva Issues), who introduced roller derby to the West Midlands. The league was the first to form in the UK outside London, and was originally named the Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames. They took part in Europe's first roller derby tournament, Roll Britannia in 2009, hosted 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 ...

. The tournament featured 12 teams from the UK and Germany, and was held at the historic

Earls Court Exhibition Centre Earls Court Exhibition Centre was a major international exhibition and events venue just west of central London. At its peak it is said to have generated a £2 billion turnover for the economy. It replaced exhibition and entertainment grounds, ...

in London, England. In 2009 the league was restructured and the name shortened to the Birmingham Blitz Dames. The league had two travel teams and over 70 members, recruiting and training new skaters on an ongoing basis. The Dames were founder members of the

UK 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 UK ...

. Two skaters from the league were selected for the

Roller Derby World Cup The Roller Derby World Cup is an international women's roller derby tournament formerly organized by ''Blood & Thunder magazine'', and currently organized by the Roller Derby World Cup Committee. Teams of amateur skaters from around the world ...

in 2011: Violet Attack for Team England, and Roisin Roulette for

Team Ireland Team Ireland was a stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1991 and 1992. Owned by Irishman Martin Birrane, the team posted a best finish of thirteenth with driver Bobby Hillin Jr. Winston Cup Series Car No. ...

. In 2014 Roisin Roulette was again selected to compete for Team Ireland in 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 ...

held in Dallas, Texas. In 2021, it was announced that Birmingham Blitz Dames would merge with

Central City Roller Derby Central City Roller Derby (CCR) was a women's flat track roller derby league based in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Founded in 2007, the league was a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and played under the WFTDA ruleset. ...

to form

Birmingham Roller Derby Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

WFTDA

Birmingham joined the

WFTDA Apprentice Program The Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice is 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. ...

in October 2014, and became a full member of the WFTDA in September 2015.

Rankings

References

{{UKRDA Roller derby in England Roller derby leagues in the United Kingdom Roller derby leagues established in 2006 Women's sports teams in England 2006 establishments in England