Stuttgart Valley Roller Derby 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

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. Founded in 2006, the league currently consists of two teams which compete against teams from other leagues. Stuttgart 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 league was the second to be founded in Europe, in the same month as 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 ...

, founded in April 2006. The leagues did not initially know about the formation of each other. As it was the first roller derby league in Germany, it initially bouted against teams from the UK.Janos Berghardt,
Hart und schnell - Frauensport Roller Derby
, ''

Mitteldeutsche Zeitung The ''Mitteldeutsche Zeitung'' (''Central German Newspaper'') is a regional daily newspaper for southern Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Published in Halle with several local versions, the paper is owned by M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne. History and p ...

'', 10 March 2008 The SVRG played the

London Rockin' Rollers London Rockin' Rollers (LRR) is a flat-track roller derby league based in London, England. Founded in 2007, the league is a member of both the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA) and the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) ...

in November 2007, in the first public bout in Europe between two leagues and in June 2009 the first all German game against Barock City Roller Derby. Other leagues began appearing in Germany in 2008 and 2009, with Stuttgart giving particular assistance to

Bear City Roller Derby Bear City Roller Derby (BCRD) is a flat track roller derby league based in Berlin. Founded in 2008, Bear City is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History The league was founded as the Berlin Bombshells, although it ...

in organising itself.Marta Popowska, "A short history of roller derby in Europe", ''Blood and Thunder'' #15, pp.18-23 The Zurich Rollergirlz credit Stuttgart with helping organise Switzerland's first roller derby information meeting. The first German Championship was held in December 2010 in Berlin, Stuttgart beating Bear City Roller Derby 128–124 in the final. In October 2011, Stuttgart entered 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. ...

, and it became a full member of the WFTDA in March 2013.WFTDA Welcomes 5 New Members
, WFTDA, 7 March 2013

International

Ten of Stuttgart's skaters were selected for Team Germany at the

2011 Roller Derby World Cup The 2011 Roller Derby World Cup was an international women's roller derby tournament organized by ''Blood & Thunder'' magazine. Teams of amateur skaters from around the world were fielded to compete for their respective nations. The inaugural 20 ...

, and one was selected for Team Brazil.

WFTDA rankings

References

{{WFTDA Division 3 Roller derby leagues in Germany Sport in Stuttgart Roller derby leagues established in 2006 Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 3 2006 establishments in Germany