Tiger Bay Brawlers (TBB) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Founded in April 2010, the league has two teams that compete against teams from other leagues. Tiger Bay is a member of the

United Kingdom 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 U ...

(UKRDA) and 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 and organisation

The Tiger Bay Brawlers was founded in 2010. The league's A team started bouting in January 2011, hosting the first ever public roller derby bout in Wales as they took on the Bristol Harbour Harlots, winning the bout 173–37. Of the nine bouts the Brawlers' A team played in this first year they only lost two. Their first recruitment day was held in March 2010 which saw the league double in size, enabling them to establish and debut their B team in October 2011. In 2011 three members of the Tiger Bay Brawlers were selected to play for the Midlands Massive – an all star team made of skaters around the UK. Opening their 2012 bouting season, the Tiger Bay Brawlers took on 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 ...

' Ultraviolent Femmes in Earls Court, London, a game they lost. In July 2012, Tiger Bay was accepted as a member of 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. ...

,WFTDA Accepts 35 Apprentice Leagues
", WFTDA, 16 July 2012 and it became a full member of the WFTDA in June 2013.WFTDA Welcomes First Full Member Leagues in Asia and South America
", 6 June 2013 In February 2013, the Tiger Bay Brawlers became the first ever European team to win against the

' B-team, the Brawl Saints. In May 2013 Tiger Bay Brawlers were runners up in their first European tournament, 2013: A Skate Odyssey, in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. They narrowly lost to the Berlin Bombshells. The Tiger Bay Brawlers is run by a voluntary management committee made up of league members including skaters, non-skating officials and referees. The management committee make decisions that affect the whole league and meet once a month to establish priorities and coordinate activities. Sub-committees involve all league members in the league operations and an annual AGM establishes objectives going forwards. The league's home bouts are played between Talybont Sports Hall at Cardiff University, and the Newport Centre.

WFTDA rankings

In the media

As a league the Tiger Bay Brawlers secured a Welsh language roller derby feature on S4C and also secured coverage on BBC Sport Wales.

Junior league

In 2012, Sport.Cardiff announced in partnership with The Tiger Bay Brawlers the establishment of a

junior roller derby Junior roller derby is the sport of roller derby, modified for children and adolescents up to 18 years of age. The sport is played in both modified-contact, known as "positional blocking," and full-contact approaches, to facilitate safety across ...

league through the 5x60 initiative. Slightly different from the main league, the juniors play to the Junior Roller Derby Association (JRDA) rules set. The Tiger Bay Brawlers hosted Europe's first-ever public Junior bout on Saturday, 8 December 2012 at Talybont Sports Centre, Cardiff.

References

{{Sport in Cardiff Roller derby in Wales Sport in Cardiff Roller derby leagues in the United Kingdom Roller derby leagues established in 2010 Women's Flat Track Derby Association Division 3 2010 establishments in Wales