Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls

Description

The Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls are an amateur, all female roller derby league skating in Lincolnshire. The sports team is run by their participants, also known as skaters, on a not-for-profit basis.

The Lincolnshire Bombers were one of the founding members of the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA). The league is still a member of the UKRDA to date, but no longer serve on their director board.

As a league, the Lincolnshire Bombers travel Europe and the UK playing roller derby.

They currently accept women 18+ with no skating ability into their recruitment and training programme, and also have a developing junior league that accepts girls from the age of 10.

History

Named in homage to Lincolnshire's RAF history, the Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls (LBRG) were founded in 2008 by Emma Tremlett and four other members. By late 2008 the league had grown to 25 members, leading them to start their first roller derby season in 2009.

At the time LBRG were founded, there were only a handful of leagues in the UK and none based in the East Midlands.

2009

In 2009, LBRG secured sponsorship from Motörhead. The seal was a two-year sponsorship that saw the team move from their traditional RAF-inspired uniforms to printed T-shirts with the "Motörhead" logo on their backs.

About the sponsorship, Motörhead said: "One look at these wild women is enough to make it clear that we're a match made in hell! These girls are so mean that if they moved next door, not only would your lawn die, but they'd kick yer ass too!"

The sponsorship deal also resulted in some members of LBRG dancing on stage with Motörhead at a gig in Nottingham.

2009 also saw the Lincolnshire Bombers take on Rainy City, from Manchester. The final score was 142-33 to Rainy City.

The league also hosted their own home game for the first time, titled "The Carnival of the Strange".

The Carnival of the Strange saw two games, a mixed female game inviting skaters from across the UK, and the first ever open men's roller derby game in the UK.

2010

Off the back of the Whip It film release, the Lincolnshire Bombers Roller Girls launched a "Be Your Own Hero" recruitment campaign in 2010. The campaign was a success and saw one of LBRG's biggest recruitment sessions.

In 2010, LBRG also suffered a league split, which saw the formation of the second female roller derby league in Lincoln, the Imposter Roller Girls (IRG).

LBRG's 2010 season saw them play three non-tournament games, taking on Auld Reekie Roller Girls (Edinburgh), Central City Rollergirls (Birmingham) and Royal Windsor Rollergirls (Windsor).

The scores were:

Great Yorkshire Showdown 2010

The Lincolnshire Bombers also took part in the Great Yorkshire Showdown tournament in 2010, hosted by the Leeds Roller Dolls in October that year. The event was a B-level tournament and saw the Lincolnshire Bombers play against seven other teams from across the north of England, including Manchester Roller Derby, Liverpool Roller Girls, Newcastle Roller Girls, Middlesbrough Milk Rollers, Sheffield Steel Rollergirls, Wakey Wheeled Cats and Leeds Roller Dolls.

The tournament marked the first ever appearance of a non-A-team version of the Lincolnshire Bombers Rollergirls, as the team included skaters who had previously only played "rookie-level" challenge games.

After three 30-minute games, LBRG took the top spot in the tournament, successfully claiming the first ever Great Yorkshire Showdown champion title.

WFTDA Apprentice league acceptance

In September 2011 the Lincolnshire Bombers joined a small number of UK teams accepted onto the WFTDA (Women's Flat Track Derby Association).

On 12 November 2011, the Lincolnshire Bomber Roller Girls played their first WFTDA qualifying game against visiting Sioux Falls Roller Dollz from South Dakota, USA. the game was a closed door bout, aimed at LBRG gaining valuable experience against a highly experienced American Team.

In June 2012, Lincolnshire were accepted as full members of the WFTDA.