Wollongong Illawarra Roller Derby (WIRD) 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

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

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 ...

. Founded by the referee Sintax in January 2009, it consisted of two home teams, the Vipers and Vixens, plus a mixed travel team. From January 2013 the league pared back to two teams, an A- and B-level travel team known as the Steel City Derby Dolls. Founded in February 2009,About WIRD
, WIRD the league played its first bout in November. During the following year, the Steel City Derby Dolls team bouted against the Newcastle Dockyard Dames,

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 ...

and

Sydney Roller Derby League Sydney Roller Derby League (SRDL) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in the New South Wales city of Sydney. Founded in 2007, Sydney is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History Sydney Roller Derby Lea ...

, with the Newcastle bout attracting a capacity crowd of around 1,000 fans. Although the league entered the 2010 National Tournament, 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 ...

, it lost both bouts, playing the day after the entire team got

food poisoning Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease) ...

. By 2011, the league had more than forty skaters, and took fourth place in the inaugural NSW Eastern Region Roller Derby Tournament. In 2012, the league again competed in the Great Southern Slam, losing in the first round to the

Northern Brisbane Rollers The Northern Brisbane Rollers is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Queensland, Australia. Founded in 2008, the league is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History The league was founded in 2008, an ...

, then in a close-fought bout to the

Pirate City Rollers Pirate City Rollers is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Auckland. Founded in 2006, the league is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History and organization Pirate City founded by Black Dahlia, who had ...

. Wollongong eventually placed last of eighteen competing teams who participated in the Great Southern Slam Wollongong also entered the Eastern Region Roller Derby Tournament in 2012, again placing fourth in the A-grade division which also included

Canberra Roller Derby League The Canberra Roller Derby League (CRDL) is a Canberra-based roller derby league. It was created in 2008, with the first bouts occurring in 2009. Canberra currently holds the Division 1 trophy for The Great Southern Slam. Canberra is a member ...

and

Newcastle Roller Derby League Newcastle Roller Derby League (NRDL) is a flat track roller derby league founded in 2009, based in Newcastle, New South Wales. Their representative team is the Dockyard Dames, while their three home teams are the Harbour Hellcats, the Fort S ...

Eastern Region Roller Derby 2012 Rankings, http://rollerderbyau.net/2012/10/02/2012-eastern-region-roller-derby/ In October 2012, Wollongong 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. ...

Program.22 Leagues Join WFTDA Apprentice Program
, WFTDA, 18 October 2012 The league had many skaters come and go during the years to follow, the "Steel City Derby Dolls" continued to compete in many events across Australia and eventually the decided to begin a training program that included all genders. With this decision also came the choice to move away from the WFTDA Apprentice Program and concentrate on local events. 2019 was the year WIRD sent its first mixed gender team "Steel City Rollers" to compete in the United Roller Derby playoffs and began training their first Junior team "Steel City Nuts and Bolts"

References

{{Wollongong Sports Teams Roller derby leagues in Australia Sports clubs and teams in Wollongong Roller derby leagues established in 2009 2009 establishments in Australia