Dublin Roller Derby (DRD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland. Founded in 2009, Dublin Roller Derby 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, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Co ...

(WFTDA).

History

The Dublin Roller Girls were the first roller derby league to form in Ireland. Their intra-league bout in June 2011 was the first public roller derby in the country. In their first bouting season, the Dublin Roller Girls played seven bouts, scoring four wins. Nine skaters from the league were selected 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. ...

at 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, while Dublin also supplied the head coach and the manager for the team. In early 2012, they moved to the

National Basketball Arena National Basketball Arena, also known as Tallaght Arena, is an indoor sporting arena located in Tymon Park, Tallaght, South Dublin, adjacent to the M50 motorway. The capacity of the arena is 2,500 people and it opened in January 1993. It is u ...

Tallaght ) , image_skyline = TallaghtDublinD24.jpg , image_caption = Tallaght, Dublin , image_flag = , flag_size = , pushpin_map = Dublin#Ireland , pushpin_label_position = left , ...

. That year, Dublin's A team played ten bouts with seven wins. The B team also started bouting for the first time, playing 5 bouts and winning 3. Founded in 2009 as Dublin Roller Girls (DRG), on 19 March 2013 the league announced via its Facebook page that they had changed their name to Dublin Roller Derby. In October 2013, Dublin was accepted as a member of the WFTDA Apprentice Programme, and in December 2014, Dublin was accepted as a full member of the

. As of 2017, the league consists of three home teams, and three travel teams that play teams from other leagues.

WFTDA competition

In 2017 Dublin qualified for

WFTDA Division 2 The Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 2 (WFTDA Division 2) was the second-highest level of play in women's flat track roller derby from 2013 through 2017. Comprising different structures over that time, in early 2018 the Women's Flat Tr ...

Playoffs for the first time as the 16th seed, and opened the weekend by upsetting top seed

Auld Reekie Roller Girls Auld Reekie Roller Derby (ARRD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 2008, ARRD was the first Scottish Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) member. The league aims to create teams with the ...

200-183. Dublin followed up by defeating ninth seed

No Coast Derby Girls The No Coast Roller Derby is a co-ed flat track roller derby league based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Founded in 2005, the league currently consists of two mixed teams which compete against teams from other leagues. No Coast is a member of the Women's ...

166-165 in a tight game, and won another narrow victory over

Naptown Roller Derby Naptown Roller Derby (NRD) is a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2006, the league started their 10th season in March 2016. Naptown Roller Derby is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Associat ...

, 161-158. Dublin then lost their semifinal to

Paris Rollergirls Paris Roller Derby is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Paris, France. Founded in February 2010, the league currently consists of a single team which competes against teams from other leagues, and is a member of the Women's Flat ...

259-152, as well as a rematch with Naptown, 215-144 and finished in fourth place. In 2018, Dublin qualified for the WFTDA Europe Continental Cup held 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, as the second seed, and finished in second after losing the final to

Kallio Rolling Rainbow Kallio Rolling Rainbow (KRR) is a flat track roller derby league based in Helsinki, Finland.They welcome anyone regardless of age, gender or body type. Their fundamental value is to accept people exactly as they are and to celebrate the existenc ...

. In 2019, Dublin qualified again for the WFTDA Europe Continental Cup held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland, as the first seed. Having lost the first match against

Antwerp Roller Derby Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, they ended up in sixth place.

Rankings

References

{{WFTDA Division 2 Roller derby leagues established in 2009 Roller derby leagues in Ireland Sport in South Dublin (county) Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 2 2009 establishments in Ireland