Geelong Roller Derby (GRD) is a

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 the Victorian city of

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

. Founded in 2008, the GRD has one team that competes and in interleague bouts. They support both men and women in the league, but their current competitive teams are women only.

History

The Geelong Roller Derby League was founded in March 2008, and by 31 October of that year they were able to present their first bout. This first event was for family and friends only, and featured the Frankenskaters and the Bloody Marys – the latter of which was the origin of the name of their current interleague team. Their first public match was held just over a month later, on 6 December 2008, in which the Death Leopards competed against the Black Sadists. The GRDL's first interleague bout was held the following year, in March 2009. They competed against the Victorian Roller Derby League's B team, "New Breed", followed by a rematch in May. The GRDL grew quickly, and by October that year they had over 40 members and were able to field two official teams: the Atom Bombs and the Psychotics. Their first full season was also held in 2009, taking place at Bell Post Hill Leisuretime Centre where they had relocated from their original venue, with the Psychotics dominating the series over the Atom Bombs. 2010 saw their second full season, in which the Atom Bombs reversed the results of the previous year, winning undefeated. 2010 also saw the ''

Great Southern Slam The Great Southern Slam (TGSS) is the largest competitive roller derby event in the Southern Hemisphere, contested by teams from New Zealand and Australia. It is held bi-annually in Adelaide in South Australia. TGSS was created and continues ...

'' hosted by

Adelaide Roller Derby Adelaide Roller Derby (ADRD) is a roller derby league based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 2007, the league has four competitive home teams; The Mile Die Club, The Salties (formerly The Salty Dolls), The Road Train Rollers and The Wil ...

, the largest roller derby competition held outside of the United States. The "Maulrats", a combined team consisting of members of the

Ballarat Roller Derby League Ballarat Roller Derby (BRD) is a roller derby league based in the Victorian city of Ballarat. Founded in 2008, the league has three competitive co-ed home teams, two junior roller derby teams, an all-female away/travel team and a referee tea ...

and the GRDL, made it into the second day of the competition. Recently, the Geelong Roller Derby League travel team, the Bloody Marys, took second place in the inaugural Vic/Tas Tournament, a two-state tournament featuring some 16 teams from each state, losing to the Victorian Roller Derby League's Queen Bees. The Geelong Roller Derby League was featured in the 2012 documentary film This is Roller Derby (2012 film).http://thisisrollerderby.com/ In October 2018, GRDL started its first junior team – The Junior Mary's.

References

External links

Geelong Roller Derby League
{{AUS roller derby leagues Roller derby leagues in Australia Sports clubs and teams in Victoria (state) Roller derby leagues established in 2008 Sport in Geelong 2008 establishments in Australia

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links