30/01/2018
Hey there TBR fans, we've got some important news to announce...
After 7 years as Byron Bay's own roller derby team due to declining numbers we are announcing a merger with Northern Rivers Roller Derby (NRRD) for our adult & junior leagues.
It's been a wild ride for TBR with many ups & downs over the past 7 years... The league started with a bunch women who may or may not have had much of an idea of how to skate or full skate pads in April 2010. I joined the league at the start of Jan 2011 and was lucky enough (or sadly due to injury of other skaters) to play in our first bout up in Brisbane against NBR. We had little idea of what was going on and one of our skaters suffered a broken collarbone in the first jam... But that's when the love of the game (and after parties!) began.
We played our first home bout in April 2011 at the Ballina Skate Rink. The track wasn't up to code (hello boundary fence!) but we managed to cram 300+ fans in & convinced referees to come and help us out (some of whom have gone on to become the top refs in Australia) And so the Bay Rollers were born.
Since then the team has travelled to play teams in Melbourne, Toowoomba, Sydney, Adelaide, Gladstone, Brisbane, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, Ipswich and possibly even more places that I've forgotten.
Along the way there's been several team romances ❤️ that are still going strong and several businesses born. At one point during 2016 about half the team were employed by Lady Gargantua...
I was lucky enough to run the annual TBR awards where we celebrated our players, referees and non-skating but hardworking members, showing what kind of love the league had in it. And we'll never forget that Ella Basher is the undisputed Queen of the After Party. 👑
We became known for our hard hitting style and many of us still agree that we've never been hit as hard as we were at training (thanks Tank 😉). We loved to play and we were also known for our love of parties as visiting teams & referees were invited to join our post-game car park beers.
We thank everyone who trained with us & also trained us over the years, those who came and bought a snag at a sausage sizzle or cheered us on at a bout. The refs for keeping us in check and the opposing teams for the hip checks.
While it may be over for TBR for now, our juniors have been training hard and pretty soon they're going to be adult players who can give as good as they get.
Training will remain open to both adults & juniors from 6.30pm - 8pm at the Cavanbah Centre on Friday nights. For those interested in bouting & skating at a higher level, there will also be an opportunity now to be part of the NRRD training & league on Thursday nights. Head to the NRRD page for details.
See you trackside,
Jamaica Me Crazy
