| Metro area | Logan and Brisbane, Queensland |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Teams | Furies Defiants Vandals Stripe Force (Referees) |
| Track type(s) | Flat |
| Venue | Beenleigh Arena |
| Affiliations | Skate Australia |
| Org. type | Incorporated; Not-for-profit |
| Website | sunstaterollergirls.com |
Sun State Roller Girls (SSRG) is an all-women flat track roller derby league based in Queensland.
Founded in 2007, the league hosts intraleague bouts and has a travel team that competes in interleague bouts. SSRG was featured in a half hour long documentary that aired on the ABC.
Eight of the league's skaters were members of Team Australia for the 2011 Roller Derby World Cup.[1] Team Australia finished 4th overall.[2]
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Sun State Roller Girls was founded in 2007.[3][4] In March 2007, the league held a public demonstration bout at Sportsmotion, Slacks Creek, as a recruitment drive. By 2010, membership of the league was over 170.[5]
Sun State Roller Girls has had 3 league spilts — with members leaving to form new leagues. Northern Brisbane Rollers (in January 2008[6]), Gold Coast Roller Derby (in October 2008[7]) and Brisbane City Rollers (in January 2009[8]) all formed out of splits from Sun State.
Sun State Roller Girls is one of several leagues in the Brisbane area.[9][10] The league focuses on representing skaters in Beenleigh and Logan.[4] One of the league's organisational missions is to promote the empowerment of women and to improve the health, well being and personal growth of women in the area.[4] The league is only open to female skaters, but males participate in the league in organisational positions.[4]
The league is a volunteer run, not for profit organisation[11] governed by a Committee that meets monthly and includes elected positions such as: Secretary, Treasurer, Team Representatives and a Non-Bouting Member Representative. Several positions are held by appointment, including Sponsorship Officer, Fundraising Officer, Media Officer, Head Official, Non-skating Official Coordinator and Head Coach. The Sun State Roller Girls annual general meeting is held in October of each year.[12]
In July 2009, Sun State played its first interleague bout against Victorian Roller Derby League("VRDL"). In the first Queensland interleague bout, "South vs North" on 28 November 2009 at the Beenleigh Arena, Sun State defeated Northern Brisbane Rollers ("NBR").[13]
| Date[13] | Win[13] | Lose[13] | Score[13] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Jul 2009 | Victoria | Sun State | 117 - 99 |
| 28 Nov 2009 | Sun State | NBR | 164 - 124 |
In 2010, the league competed in the Great Southern Slam, Australia's first roller derby tournament. After defeating Woollongong and Townsville/Brisbane City Rollers in the preliminary pool rounds, the Sun State Roller Girls defeated local Brisbane rivals Northern Brisbane Rollers in the quarter finals. They met and defeated Adelaide Roller Derby in the semi finals,[13] before losing to the Victorian Roller Derby League in the dying seconds of the grand final.[14] The tournament saw Sun State emerge as the highest ranked team in Queensland.[15]
| Date[13] | Win[13] | Lose[13] | Score[13] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 June 2010 | Sun State | Woollongong | 178 - 16 |
| 12 June 2010 | Sun State | Townsville | 168 - 7 |
| 12 June 2010 | Sun State | NBR | 184 - 28 |
| 13 June 2010 | Sun State | Adelaide | 124 - 60 |
| 13 June 2010 | Victoria | Sun State | 78 - 76 |
In 2011, the league played a number of interleague bouts. The 30 April 2011 re-match between Sun State and Victorian Roller Derby League at the Gold Coast Convention Centre was billed as the derby grudge match of the year in Australia by Skate Australia.[16] Victoria won the game to continue their undefeated record against Sun State.[17] On 6 August 2011, Sun State defeated the Canberra Roller Derby League at the Australian Institute of Sport.[17][18][19] After a last minute cancellation from a New Zealand league, the Brisbane City Rollers ("BCR") played Sun State on 27 August at the Beenleigh Arena, with Sun State being victorious.[13][17] Sun State defeated the Sydney Roller Derby League on 22 October at Sydney Olympic Park.[13][17][20]
| Date[13][17] | Win[13][17] | Lose[13][17] | Score[13][17] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 April 2011 | Victoria | Sun State | 124 - 93 |
| 6 August 2011 | Sun State | Canberra | 181 - 48 |
| 27 August 2011 | Sun State | BCR | 360 - 26 |
| 22 October 2011 | Sun State | Sydney | 257 - 61 |
The Sun State Roller Girls interleague travel team is ranked second in the nation.[20][21]
Sun State Roller Girls first season was between two teams: the Golden Roughs ("Roughs") and Liquorice Short Shorts ("Shorties").[22] Three public intraleague games were played in the 2008 season, beginning on on 13 September 2008, with the Liquorice Short Shorts winning on all three occasions.[13]
| Date[13] | Win[13] | Lose[13] | Score[13] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Sep 2008 | Shorties | Roughs | 140 - 102 |
| 11 Oct 2008 | Shorties | Roughs | 100 - 96 |
| 8 Nov 2008 | Shorties | Roughs | 149 - 119 |
The Roughs and Shorties met six times in the 2009 season, with the Golden Roughs taking the season title – winning four bouts to two.[13] Audience numbers grew to over 1500 per bout.[11]
| Date[13] | Win[13] | Lose[13] | Score[13] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Mar 2009 | Roughs | Shorties | 134 - 129 |
| 18 Apr 2009 | Roughs | Shorties | 135 - 125 |
| 30 May 2009 | Roughs | Shorties | 104 - 100 |
| 7 Aug 2009 | Shorties | Roughs | 137 - 116 |
| 19 Sep 2009 | Shorties | Roughs | 144 - 125 |
| 31 Oct 2009 | Roughs | Shorties | 139 - 109 |
2010 was the final season in which the Sun State Roller Girls featured the Golden Roughs and Liquorice Short Shorts teams.[23] Six regular season games were played as well as a grand final on 27 November 2010, with the Roughs again victorious four bouts to three.[13]
| Date[13] | Win[13] | Lose[13] | Score[13] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Mar 2010 | Shorties | Roughs | 119 - 96 |
| 24 Apr 2010 | Shorties | Roughs | 174 - 76 |
| 5 June 2010 | Roughs | Shorties | 92 - 88 |
| 21 Aug 2010 | Roughs | Shorties | 99 - 87 |
| 18 Sep 2010 | Roughs | Shorties | 130 - 83 |
| 30 Oct 2010 | Shorties | Roughs | 111 - 101 |
| 27 Nov 2010 | Roughs | Shorties | 116 - 111 |
In 2011 the Sun State Roller Girls dissolved the Golden Roughs and Liquorice Short Shorts, and the skaters were reallocated into three new teams — the Defiants, Vandals and Furies.[23] Six games were played during the intraleague season, with each team playing the other teams twice.[13]
| Date[13][17] | Win[13][17] | Lose[13][17] | Score[13][17] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Feb 2011 | Defiants | Vandals | 137 - 87 |
| 2 Apr 2011 | Vandals | Furies | 152 - 48 |
| 21 May 2011 | Defiants | Furies | 178 - 109 |
| 23 Jul 2011 | Vandals | Defiants | 129 - 101 |
| 10 Sep 2011 | Furies | Vandals | 106 - 52 |
| 8 Oct 2011 | Furies | Defiants | 132 - 60 |
The 2011 season final is scheduled to be played on 17 December 2011 at Beenleigh Arena in a match between the Vandals and the Defiants.[24]
Sun State Roller Girls is active in the local community. One dollar from each intraleague bout ticket sold goes to a local charity.[11][25] In 2009, the league was invited to welcome international students to Brisbane at the City Council's 'International Student Day' expo. League members helped run the Dress for Success official name-change fundraiser. The league donated $1000 to Southside Education School For Girls and $5000 to Dress for Success.[26] In 2010, the league held a shoe/handbag/jewellery drive, helped run a fundraising gala for Dress For Success, and raised $250 for The Brain Foundation (on behalf of the Brisbane Zombie Walk[27] ) and donated $7500 to Fitted for Work.[26] In 2011, the league organised a group blood donation for the Australian Red Cross, where league members donated blood while wearing the popular Sun State "Give Blood, Play Roller Derby" t-shirt.[28]
The league was featured in Roller Derby Dolls, a half hour documentary by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.[3][29]
In 2009 and 2010, the major sponsor was Sin City Skates. In 2011, the major sponsors were Masson Music, Digi Roller Skating Rink, The Gem Hotel, White Horse Audio and Sin City Skates.
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