News & Events

Published on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 at 9:55 am

Bristol Harbour Harlots vs Swansea City Slayers

Saturday 9th June 2012

Bristol Harbour Harlots vs. Swansea City Slayers

Tickets:

Venue details:

After Party Details:

Published on Monday, February 20th, 2012 at 8:18 pm

Bristol Roller Derby will be supporting domestic violence charity Survive throughout 2012, after announcing it as its charity of the year.

The sports league will be collecting donations on behalf of Survive at all of its public events, volunteering at fundraisers and raising awareness to members and fans.

Roller derby is a full-contact, women-only sport played on quad skates. Bristol Roller Derby was established in April 2010 and is growing in popularity; attracting over 500 fans at its last public bout and providing an athletic outlet to its 70-strong membership.

Bristol and South Gloucestershire charity Survive helps women, children and young people who are experiencing domestic abuse. It provides a huge variety of services including a helpline, confidence building workshops and outreach support programmes. It also runs three secret refuges in the region which offer a welcome retreat for those in need.

Anna Smith, chief executive, Survive said: “Survive is thrilled to be named as charity of the year by Bristol Roller Derby, a sport which through its encouragement of women and development of a community of participants embodies many of our principles.  The economic hardship experienced by families currently and the squeeze on public funds means we are facing a greater level of women and children in need and less funds to provide our services, so support from donations and collections is needed more than ever before.”

Brooke Nolan, Bristol Roller Derby spokesperson, said: “Roller derby is an empowering sport for women, and domestic abuse is a cause which is very close to many of our member’s hearts. The synergy between the two makes Survive the ideal charity for us to support and we are looking forward to working in partnership with the Survive team and hopefully making a tangible difference to those who have been effected by domestic violence.”

Bristol Roller Derby will be collecting donations for Survive at its next public bout ‘Dirty Torque’ on Sunday 11^th March at WISE Campus, Filton College, New Road, Stoke Gifford, BS34 8LP. For more information on tickets visit www.bristolrollerderby.com/event

For more information, images or interviews with Survive or Bristol Roller Derby please contact Brooke Nolan on brooke@weareplaster.com or 0117 953 0320.

Published on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 at 3:24 pm

Dirty Torque

Sunday 11th March

Bristol Roller Derby brings you more action packed roller derby with a live double header bout!

After the success of last year’s Ship Shape and Bristol Smash’em! – the Bristol home teams decided to make this event BIGGER and BETTER with two full length bouts. First Project Mayhem take on visiting team The Beasts of Bodmin from Cornwall & Plymouth, followed by Smash Vandals meeting the Daughters of Anarchy to battle it out on the track.

Doors open at 1pm at the WISE campus of Filton College, where you can find cake & merchandise tables in the Derby Mall, along with a cafe and bar for all your refreshment needs. First bout starts at 2pm.

The bouts finish at 6pm with skater awards, but be sure to stick around to celebrate with the teams afterwards in the onsite bar – ‘Goal’, which will be open til 10pm.

The nitty gritty details:

Bout 1: Project Mayhem vs. The Beasts of Bodmin (Cornwall & Plymouth)
Bout 2: Smash Vandals vs. Daughters of Anarchy

WISE campus, Filton College, New Road, Stoke Gifford, BS34 8LP http://g.co/maps/v8fd8
Car and bike parking at the front of the venue, and only a short walk from Bristol Parkway station

Tickets are £6 (+ booking fee) from Bristol Ticket Shop or £8 on the door
Kids under 10 go free

Search for “Bristol Roller Derby” on the Bristol Ticket Shop website for online sales

Doors: 1pm
Bouts: 2-6pm
Afterparty: 6-10pm

Bristol Roller Derby home teams pages:
Project Mayhem
Smash Vandals
Daughters of Anarchy

The Beasts of Bodmin:
Cornwall Roller Derby
Plymouth City Roller Girls

Published on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 4:15 pm

Wednesday 1st February 2012

DOA Quiz Night

Banish those winter blues and let the Daughters of Anarchy (your favourite Bristol Roller Derby home team) brighten an otherwise dull midweek evening – come to the Ship Inn on Lower Park Row for an evening of games and a general knowledge pub quiz!

Oodles of prizes to be won – including a CASH TOP PRIZE for the winning team in the quiz. Come and show the world (or at least the pub) that Roller Derby fans have the highest IQs!

The Ship Inn
Lower Park Row
Bristol
BS1 5BJ

Map: http://g.co/maps/fuf8d

Generous raffle donations from:
Bristol Roller Derby
Shear Madness
Inkabilly
Bev Milward Porcelain
Cut the Track Roller Derby Clothing
… and much, much more!

All profits will go towards the Daughters of Anarchy’s league – Bristol Roller Derby – to help bring you more thrills and spills on the Roller Derby track!

Keep up to date with the Daughters of Anarchy on facebook

Published on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 at 2:55 pm

When Bristol Roller Derby (BRD) opened its doors for try-outs in March 2011 the organisers had no idea what they had let themselves in for. Instead of recruiting just enough skaters to cover costs, they were faced with the difficult chore of whittling nearly 100 derby-girls-in-waiting down to the maximum number – two dozen – that could be accommodated on the course.

This was the final intake of new skaters for the foreseeable future, as BRD had grown large so fast it was becoming necessary to stop recruitment and take stock of what they had, building on strengths and talents within the group to reinforce the aims of the League before taking on any more skaters.

This last group became Fresh Meat 2011, and after spending 2011 learning how to (safely) knock each other down in style, they are about to graduate. Following 9 months of literal blood, sweat and tears, the newest members of BRD are preparing for their graduation bout, a friendly game played against each other in the privacy of their practice hall, which will mark the end of their probationary training period and the beginning of their lives as players for one of BRD’s home teams. They have submitted themselves for the draft to either Daughters of Anarchy, Smash Vandals or Project Mayhem and – while they look forward to their new teams with fierce intensity – they express nothing but love, admiration and a deep respect for their fellow ‘Meaties’, their coaches and their teammates-to-be.

The demographic of the group is incredibly varied. The skaters range in age from 20 to “certainly older than you might think I am” and the careers they represent “in real life” include administration, physiotherapy, insurance adjustment and photography. One skater is a Cabin Crew member for a major airline and brings her uniform to practice when she’s on standby, just in case. They are mothers, wives and girlfriends and while they do exhibit a liking for tattoos and hair dye, not all look like the mainstream stereotype of “the derby girl”. Rachel “Ac!d Drop” Britton, a Senior Pharmaceutical Advisor for the NHS explained “My tattoos are strategically placed – they’re on show when I want them to be but they cover up completely for work. I am absolutely professional during the week but I can still show my roller girl colours when it counts!” Outside of practice, suits and dresses, jeans and t-shirts are just as prevalent in their wardrobes as hot-pants and crazy-colour tights. Roller Derby doesn’t make a girl’s wardrobe go wild – sometimes it just encourages pre-existing tendencies to emerge.

No sports league would be complete without an all-star team, and BRD is no exception. Their travel team, the Harbour Harlots, have gone from strength to strength this year, relishing victory and taking defeat in their stride as they strive to become the dominant team in the South West in 2012. While it is rare for a newly-qualified skater to be drafted straight to the travel team, it isn’t unheard of, and some of the new grads will certainly stand a chance. Asked what she thought about landing a spot on the Harlots, Sorrel “Hattie Flattener” Sparks replied:“The thought of being instantly drafted onto the Travel Team fills me with equal measures of knee wobbling excitement and teeth clenching terror! I will get there one day, but will have to rely on hard work and determination rather than natural ability.” Clearly, these girls are prepared to work for their dreams.

Regardless of what teams they end up on, 2012 is certain to be an amazing 12 months for the new recruits of Bristol Roller Derby, and another exciting and successful year for the league as a whole.

Written by Red October (aka Mia Gilson)

Published on Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 at 8:39 pm

Bristol Harbour Harlots vs S.W.A.T

Sunday 4th December 2011

Bristol Harbour Harlots vs. S.W.A.T.

Roll up, roll up for another dose of good old fashioned roller derby action this side of Christmas.

“I Love Block N Roll” showcases the best of the south west going head-to-head as our travel team the Bristol Harbour Harlots take on the South West Angels of Terror on Sunday 4th December at the Filton College WISE campus.

After two previous sell-out bouts this year, expect plenty of thrills and spills, bumps and bruises as the teams fight it out on the track in another afternoon of fast-paced derby destruction.

Ticket price includes entry into the after party at the onsite Goal Sports Bar, where you can party with roller girls, live rock music, DJs and indulge in Bristol Roller Derby’s famous cake stall.

Doors open at 1:00pm with the bout starting at 2:00pm.

Advance tickets are £6 – click here to buy!

More Information

Food and drink will be available from the cafe

The after party is in the same venue as the Sports Hall, in the on-site bar called Goal. Under 18s are welcome. Goal will open at 4pm after the bout and close at 10pm.

Published on Monday, August 22nd, 2011 at 5:38 pm

Bristol Roller Derby Presents… Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons – Saturday 10th Sept

Doors open 8pm

Tickets £4adv | £5 door

Put out a saucer of milk and some moonshine, cos Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons are coming out to play with Bristol Roller Derby!

Powerpacked feline fronted Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons are ready to unleash their hellcat fire like a coughed up sleazeball on The Fleece.

The formidable Pussycat is renowned for prowling the audience whilst the adrenaline fuelled Dirty Johnson boys pound out their infectious blend of punk rock ‘n’ roll. Like all cats they are hard to pin down and have been described as one of the most incendiary live bands around.

The past year has seen not only seen this Basingstoke band grabbing crowds by the short whiskers with their frenetic live energy, but also the recording of their debut album which has succeeded in artfully capturing the bands raw sound with all the high impact of one of their shows.

2011 is already seeing the band building on its underground success with reviews and radio play in the UK, Europe, Australia and the US, notable support slots across the UK and early plans for a European tour.

Tickets available from these online outlets:

Bristol Ticket Shop, See Tickets, Ticket Web

Facebook event page: Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons Vs Bristol Roller Derby @ The Fleece

All Ages (* Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult and leave by midnight)

Published on Friday, August 19th, 2011 at 6:52 pm

Many have cycled the 16mile track from Bristol to Bath for its beautiful scenery, but not so many have attempted the route on roller skates. This difficult task didn’t deter 12 women from Bristol Roller Derby, who completed the challenge last month in less than four hours, and raised a grand total of £1022.00 for their league, and local charity One 25.

Roller derby is a female-only, full-contact sport played on quad roller skates and the league is completely skater owned and funded. Such fundraising events are essential to keep the sport of Roller Derby alive in Bristol.

Half of the sponsorship money raised has been donated to the Bristol-based charity One25. Since 1995, One25 has been supporting street-working women to escape the streets and build a life free from violence, poverty and addiction.

Gemma Green, 33, from Clifton took part in the skate. She said: “An underlying ethos of roller derby is to connect and empower women from all walks of life to be positive, focused and confident. This is reflected in the aims of One25 and it is great that we can help them to achieve this by sharing some of our funds raised.”

Josie Hill, from One 25, said: “We are very grateful to the Bristol Roller Derby league for recognising our work with vulnerable women in our city and supporting One25 so generously. The £500 raised by Bristol Roller Derby will make a big difference in supporting more local women to achieve their dreams: a life free from the abuses of the streets, reuniting with lost friends and family and finding their true potential in our soon to be launched skills development centre.”

The Bristol Roller Derby League was founded in April 2010 and they are always looking at inventive ways to raise funds, as well as currently looking into sponsorship opportunities.

Gemma continued: “Fundraising events such as the Bristol to Bath skate bring a real sense of camaraderie to the team and despite having very tired legs, we had such fun that many of the girls have even gone on to complete a 26 mile Roller Marathon at Goodwood”.

Further details of Bristol Roller Derby events, public bouts and sponsorship opportunities can be found at www.bristolrollerderby.com.

For more information about One 25 visit http://www.one25.org.uk/

For more information or images please contact Brooke Nolan on blnolan@gmail.com or 07769184276.

One25 has been supporting vulnerable women and their families in Bristol since 14 May 1995. It offers night outreach, a friendly drop-in centre with a range of professional services and a unique mother and baby home – the only one in the country for mothers escaping sex-work. The charity’s mission is to reach out to women trapped in street sex-work, supporting them to break free and build new lives away from violence, poverty and addiction. For more information please visit http://www.one25.org.uk/ or call Josie Hill on 0117 909 8832.

Published on Saturday, August 6th, 2011 at 7:01 pm

Photo courtesey of Matthew Roach

Better late than never…! Here’s our report on the recent Painspotting bout held here in Bristol on 9 July. This was only the second home bout in Bristol’s derby history, and once again we packed the place. Rowdy derby fans came from near and far to watch our beloved, brutal sport (and to eat our luscious cupcakes). We hear some Swansea City Slayers even showed up!

Back in December of last year the Bristol Harbour Harlots bravely faced Gloucester’s Severn Roller Torrent, and were soundly defeated 138-60. It was clear that the Harlots had some work to do. And work they did! After a few months of intense training, not to mention some excellent guest coaching and a couple derby bootcamps, the Harlots invited SRT to Bristol for a re-match. This time the story was quite different, with the Harlots maintaining control of the entire game and taking the win 195-91.

Photo courtesey of Matthew Roach

To get right to the point, that was some great roller derby, y’all! Both teams worked extremely hard, and the crowd not only got to see some super hard hits but some excellent strategies. Jammer penalties on both teams led to some intense power jams, racking up lots of points – always great fun to watch. The Harlots offered a deep bench of skilled jammers, maintaining those much-needed fresh legs throughout the bout. And not only that but each jammer brought her own unique strengths to the game, really keeping SRT on their toes. This, combined with fantastic communication and blocking, worked to their advantage. Gloucester was able to pick up quite a few points throughout the game though, taking Bristol by surprise with some impressive footwork and heavy blocks, and often sneaking through the pack before the Harlots could call off the jams.

Photo courtesey of Matthew Roach

Rumour has it that UWE staff thought this was one of the most organised sporting events they’d seen in a while, and we were all really proud of ourselves too – from the fans to the refs, cake bakers to derby widows, all hands were on deck to make this not only a win for the Harlots, but a win for Bristol Roller Derby. We should also mention that we totally won the after party too!

If you haven’t yet joined the Harlots on Facebook, it’s about time you did. Come see us at www.facebook.com/BristolHarbourHarlots and keep an eye out for the next bout!

Written by La Calavera #420

Published on Monday, July 18th, 2011 at 3:52 pm

Local businesses are being given the opportunity to raise their profile with a unique opportunity – sponsoring Bristol’s roller derby league.

Bristol Roller Derby member, Tattooed Terror, in action

Roller derby is a fast, full-contact, women-only sport played on quad skates. It combines athleticism – players train for up to 8 hours per week – with a sense of fun and showmanship. Players have alter-ego names such as Tattooed Terror and Ruby Whipper.

Established in May 2010, Bristol Roller Derby has grown to become one of the UK’s largest leagues with over 70 skaters and four teams: the travel team, Bristol Harbour Harlots; and three home teams, the Smash Vandals, Daughters of Anarchy and Project Mayhem.

The league is currently looking for sponsorship to help fund its expansion, and allow it to host regular competitive bouts.

Tuisku Sarrala, the league’s chairperson, said: “The interest in roller derby in the city – both from those who are involved and from fans – has been overwhelming.

“But it’s hard work. We are entirely skater-owned and managed, and like roller derby leagues the world over, we are grassroots and DIY. Everything from coaching to artwork is done by unpaid members or volunteers.”

The league believes it can offer businesses in the region a unique and exciting sponsorship opportunity and has created a flexible selection of sponsorship packages – from one-off advertisements to year-round deals – to suit all budgets and requirements.

The Bristol Roller Derby team

Tuisku continued: “Members of the league are made up of all ages from 18 to mid 40s. They come from all walks of life, from stay-at-home mums to lawyers, midwives, graphic artists, fraud investigators, photographers and dog groomers.

“The target audience for roller derby is just as broad and diverse; it draws from those who enjoy physical, hard-hitting sports as well as those who seek out unusual and fun entertainment. We have built up an incredibly loyal fanbase and are confident that we can offer businesses a good return on their investment.”

WFTDA (Women’s Flat Track Derby Association) research* found that two-thirds of all fans know the businesses that support their local derby league, and nearly 90 per cent hold a favourable opinion of these businesses.

“We have grown rapidly into one of the UK’s largest leagues, and by sponsoring us you will gain access to the loyal fans we attract,” concludes Tuisku. “Your business can be associated with a sport that is fast, fun and furious. The women who play are athletes with a difference; they are fearless, determined and they embody female empowerment.”

Bristol Roller Derby regularly pulls in hundreds of people at its fundraising evenings and bouts, and its most recent ‘fresh meat’ intake (the affectionate term used for new skaters) saw over 100 enquiries and 60 women turn up for try outs.

The travel team’s first ever home bout on Saturday 9^th July, which saw the team win by a 100 point difference against Gloucester, attracted over 400 members of the Bristol public. The league has since secured a larger venue for future bouts to cater for up to 600 fans.

If you would like to sponsor Bristol Roller Derby or would like to find out more, visit www.bristolrollerderby.com/sponsorship, email sponsorship@bristolrollerderby.com or phone Brooke Nolan on 0776918426.

*This research was undertaken in America. No similar research has been completed yet in the UK.