South Sea Roller Derby (SSRD) is 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 south-eastern

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. South Sea has two travel teams that play teams from other leagues. South Sea 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

South Sea Roller Derby (SSRD) was founded by former

Victorian Roller Derby League The 'Victorian Roller Derby League'' (VRDL or Victoria) is a flat track roller derby league based in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 2007, VRDL provides opportunities for all ages and at all levels to participate and compete in Roller Derby. VR ...

(VRDL) member, Misty Meaner, in 2009, after VRDL moved its training location and her travel time dramatically increased. This sparked an idea to create a league to cater for girls living on the south east side of the city. After scouting around, she found Peninsula Skateworld at Carrum Downs, whose owners were keen to help bring roller derby to the area. Recruitment of skaters began in early 2009, with regular training sessions starting in August. Lady Malice, a former VRDL fresh meat coordinator, offered her services as a coach. South Sea Roller Derby held its first public home bout on 28 August, 2010, and Sirens played their first travel team game against

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 ...

on 13 November. Bouting against Ballarat (BRDL) at the end of the year has now become an annual tradition. In 2011, South Sea lost all its bouts against other leagues from Victoria, but did beat

Western Australia Roller Derby WA Roller Derby (WARD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 2009, the league is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History WA Roller Derby was founded in August ...

in Perth. SSRD competed in 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 ...

tournament in 2012, where they managed a win over

Geelong Roller Derby League Geelong Roller Derby (GRD) is a roller derby league based in the Victorian city of Geelong. 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 competit ...

, but lost heavily to the

Sun State Roller Girls Sun State Roller Derby is a women's flat track roller derby based in Brisbane, in the Australian state of Queensland. Suns State was established in 2007 and has been a member of the international Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) si ...

. 2012 was also the first year the league B team, The Banshees, made their debut, defeating a combined NSR/LCRD team and then losing to a full NSR lineup. In January 2013, South Sea was accepted as a member of the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice 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. ...

Programme.WFTDA Accepts 16 Apprentice Members
, WFTDA, 31 January 2013 By this point, the league had around 150 skaters, and thousands of fans. In November 2013, South Sea came third in the inaugural Vic Tas Tournament, a dual-state tournament comprising 16 teams from Victoria and Tasmania. The Banshees also won their only game of the season against Bendigo's Chiko Rollers. 2013 also saw the introduction of the league's third hometeam, The Blackheart Breakers, which increased the home games for the year to 6 instead of 4. South Sea gained full membership in the WFTDA in July 2014. As of 2015, South Seas disbanded their three home teams, the Blackheart Breakers, Cutthroat Charmers and Dolly Rogers, to focus on their two travel teams, the South Sea Sirens and the Banshees.

WFTDA rankings

References

{{AUS roller derby leagues Roller derby leagues in Australia Roller derby leagues established in 2009 Sports clubs and teams in Melbourne 2009 establishments in Australia Sport in the City of Greater Dandenong