Birmingham Blitz Dames - Womens, Full Contact, Flat Track Roller Derby

Violet Attack 16

Position: Triple Threat

Level: International

Story: The very first recruit of the Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames in October 2006.

Likes: Cookies, sci-fi, the two Davids - Cronenberg and Lynch

Sleazy Rider 15

Position: Blocker

Level: Advanced

Story: After many years looking for love in all the wrong places, Sleazy found Roller Derby and never looked back. While she may have been around the track a few times, this girl certainly picked up some skills on the way. Just ask Chester's mom.

Likes: Boys with guitars, boys with PhDs, boys with tattoos, girls with tattoos, ankle socks with mary-janes, skating, drinking, dancing, making out, post practice ache. My dog Sadie. Your mom.

Roisin Roulette N17

Position: Triple Threat

Level: International

Story: Learned to skate in Belfast in 1975, grew up to be a police officer in London and then a divorce lawyer in Newcastle; married in 1998 and now settled in Birmingham living happily ever after with husband, 2 kids, and my true love, roller derby.

Likes: Growing vegetables, songs with good lyrics, the Blitz Dames, dark chocolate.

Nico Warrior 784

Position: Jammer/Pivot

Level: Advanced

Story: Born in South London and raised on a steady diet of coco pops and pirate videos until her late teens, Nico then led a nomadic existence living all over England. Being accosted one night in Birmingham's Subside bar led her to (months later) try out roller derby with the Dames, and finally put an end to her wandering ways.

Likes: My buddies, gigs, cider, comedy and all manner of geekery.

Izzy Dauntless 3

Position: Blocker/Pivot

Level: Advanced

Story: They say that everyone needs a 'third place'. You have home which is one, work which is another and your third place should ideally be something entirely separate from the first two things. Roller Derby is my third place. Roller Derby soothes my soul. And I would say to anyone thinking of trying it, come. I stalked the Blitz Dames for two years before I plucked up the courage to go to an induction which was silly because it's the most amazing thing I've ever done. But, as Superoxide once said to me, "I'd have been better off taking up crack cocaine, because it's cheaper and far less add

Likes: Being a silversmith, baby grammar, 'Orlando', rocking horses, having no TV, ladybirds, Radio 4, Bugsy Malone, clouds, my entire family including the dog and Bruised Martinis.

Taylor Trash 49

Position: Blocker

Level: Advanced

Story: Coming soon!

Likes: Roller Derby.

Superoxide O2-

Position: Jammer/Pivot

Level: Advanced

Story: A free-thinking roots-radical hippy called Superoxide stumbled across the Birmingham Blitz Dames one day and thought that roller derby looked like the kind of thing she could really get into. After seeing her good friend Bitchy the Killer play in a bout against the Auld Reekie Roller Girls, she knew she had to give it a go. Despite struggling to stand up on skates on her first try, she persisted and was instantly addicted. Playing roller derby made her realise there is a highly toxic side to her personality, so watch out for this reactive species on the track!

Likes: Physical sciences, real ale, cooking for my friends and dying my hair crazy colours.

Coletta L. Damage 51

Position: Jammer/Pivot

Level: Advanced

Story: I was running a craft workshop on how to make sock monkeys some distant time in the past - in walked Violet Attack, an impressive human being who told me about the existence of roller derby right here in my home town. It sounded unimaginably awesome. I never looked back.

Likes: Dodging big hits and sending the blocker flying off the track, running startle-derby.com, design & illustration, my partner, the Dames, freedom.

Penny Block 21

Position: Blocker/Pivot

Level: Advanced

Story: 1) My friend, SLAUGHTER, started being amazing in Central New York Roller Derby. I was jealous. 2) Several years later my sister, Stig of the Thump, asked me to go with her to the BBD newbie session. 3) I did. 4) I am very stubborn so I did not stop, even when I fell over more than 30 times during that first session.

Likes: Books, Dinosaur Comics, Emmy the Great, Moomins, pyjamas, Rummikub, Venezuela, Victorians.

Sammi L. Smacks'Em 303

Position: Blocker

Level: Intermediate

Story: I have developed an unusual love for contact sports to relieve my stress recently. After drunkenly watching Whip It one evening, I thought what could be better than hitting (which I now know is called hip checking) someone whilst on skates? The answer is NOTHING. So I found the Dames and Sammi L. Smacks'Em was born. The rest, as they say, is history.

Likes: Hitting people, the Dames, my overflowing house of boys, the term SMACK ATTACK which my derby mommy gave me.

CinderWrecker 79

Position: Blocker

Level: Advanced

Story: Heard my old mucker Red Sliding Hood, banging on about this skating business... looked at the site, saw the pics of the injuries and thought "yep, that's my kind of sport."

Likes: Honesty, cakes, loyalty, caramel donuts, cheesy music and food, food, food!

Purpletrator 7

Position: Blocker

Level: Intermediate

Story: Once upon a time there was a girl who never wanted to do sports. Then she saw Whip It. The rest is (sweaty, passionate, super-awesome) history.

Likes: The sexy sexy NSOs.

Fall-Line Frenzy OP8

Position: Blocker

Level: Intermediate

Story: A keen skier, I had been desperately seeking a sport to do at home in the summer that was as much fun for several fruitless years when various of my friends started pointing me at derby. It took a while for me to listen and act, of course...

Likes: Cake (unless ginger, which is Wrong), chai tea latte, being active, obscure German music that sounds rather like static to normal people, mountains, the wonderful, supportive and encouraging BBD.

Skull Thuggery 3000

Position: Blocker

Level: Intermediate

Story: Never forgot the sheer joy of skating on quads as a kid. After watching my first bout, I realised I had to find a way to join in the fun with these awesome eight-wheeled wonders. Found out I could feel that same joy I felt as a child and hit people at the same time. Enough said.

Likes: Horror, Art Deco, Hercule Poirot and skulls skulls skulls.

Ann T. Venom 88

Position: Jammer/Blocker

Level: Intermediate

Story: Read about roller derby in a magazine in 2007, fell in love, but couldn't find anywhere local to get involved. Forgot about it. Remembered 3 years later, found the Dames and haven't looked back - or forgotten - since!

Likes: Tattoos. Heavy metal. Hotpants. Snakes. Fluffy kittens.

Queen of Heartless 12

Position: Blocker/Jammer

Level: Intermediate

Story: Started skating in the dark ages of 1976 on the uneven crappy patio that my Dad built in the back garden. Worked on a roller rink in my teens and 20s and just never grew out of skating. Read about Roisin Roulette in the Guardian in 2011, learned about roller derby and never looked back.

Likes: Shiny hotpants. I am 43 years old. At my age, when else do I get to wear shiny hotpants except in roller derby?

Nesstradamus 45

Position: Blocker

Level: Intermediate

Story: Saw the movie, heard about it from a friend, went to a bout and now been there and got the t-shirt and I'm never looking back.

Likes: My family, the Isle of Wight, chocolate, dressing like a teenager (derby is the best sport for that!) and my beret.

Red Sliding Hood 75

Position: Jammer/Blocker

Level: Intermediate

Story: My friend Grace S. Melly is the founder of the Go-Go Gent Roller girls. I would look at the photos as her derby career progressed, thinking \'I would love to be able to do that.\' I told myself I was too old, too busy, not athletic enough, not brave enough. As 2012 approached, I came to a point where I knew the only thing stopping me was ME. On the 4th January 2012 I took a deep breath and walked into a room full of amazing women wearing knee high socks, roller skates and hot pants, who instantly changed me and my life forever!

Likes: Glittery shoes, fake tan, vodka & coke, vintage Beetles, sewing, dancing, lots of black eye-liner, summer sunshine, swimming in the sea. DERBY!

Captain Kick'ard 1701

Position: Referee

Level: Advanced

Story: On an away mission, I got distracted by a funny sport on skates. I was drawn in and stayed, despite Riker's protestations.

Likes: Rules, people following the rules, oh, and rules.

Feersum Endjinn 43

Position: Referee

Level: Intermediate

Story: My other half, Alles Klar, got me into skating back in May of this year. Having put it off for ages I was finally cajoled into coming along to a BBD newbie day. I managed to stagger around a handful of laps looking something like a startled giraffe. I ached for a week. However, I was hooked, and just a few short months later I can bomb around 25-in-5 and vaguely look like I might have an idea about what I'm doing on my wheels. Somewhere along the line I discovered that there's a rulebook. Having been born a geek, this was just another in a long line of highly technical, picky things to obses

Likes: Whistles, stripy things, getting lower, sammiches, my grey Fugis

Belle Igerent 3.14

Position: Referee

Level: Intermediate

Story: Once upon a not so long ago time I grew up in Ireland. I thought I was very happy with life till one day I went along to a Roller Derby practice with the Limerick Roller Girls and I realised my life up until then had been empty and boring. I used to pretend to be a teacher in Ireland, but I wanted a change of direction so packed my bags to go studying in Birmingham, found the Blitz Dames and fell in love!

Likes: Under appreciated things like cucumber sandwiches and water, rubber ducks, when my feet don't hurt, mastering skills after months of shouting at same feet, splashing in puddles

RUFFty TUFFty M6

Position: Blocker

Level: Intermediate

Story: Once upon a time a woman was listening to the radio as there was nothing else to do, when she heard a feature about Roller Derby. Her mind wandered to the halcyon days of the mid 1980's when the sun always shined and she went everywhere on roller skates. She decided to find out more and soon realised that Roller Derby was a bit more brutal than her childhood skating, but decided to give it a go anyway and RUFFty TUFFty was born.

Likes: Sunny days, Sambucca, my four-legged friends, Road Safety, Playing RUFF.

Michebe Mayhem 82

Position: Blocker/Jammer

Level: Intermediate

Story: I saw something on facebook about a roller skating fitness group but it wasn't close by. I searched for something closer and joined SCRB which after a while closed down. I followed some of the girls to the Dames and have been in love with roller derby since I put on skates.

Likes: Knitting, skating and my family.

Alles Klar 71

Position: Blocker

Level: Rookie

Story: Watched "Whip It" and mentioned on Facebook that I'd always daydreamed about skating. An old friend replied that she trains with the Dames whenever she can and suggested I give it a go. Came to my induction in February 2011 and, despite being a slow learner (never having been fit in the past, not been fully pain-free mobile for much of my life and now over 40 and menopausal!), loving being on wheels and loving the roller-girl I'm going to become. In short: doing this only because I can't fly!

Likes: That there's actually a sport I want to do! The occasional sense that I *can* fly. New respect from others (especially that my hubby is proud that I'm skating). That this lovely fun comes with lovely people too.

Chew Tracker 79

Position: Referee

Level: Rookie

Story: After many years of trying to do different things to lose weight and keep fit, went on the internet for a different type of activity that didn't involve treadmills! Saw the trailer for Whip It and was fascinated with the concept. After more internet research I found the rules, read them, then watched Whip It. Was looking to try and find a local derby league and found BBD! Put on a pair of skates for the first time in years and was hooked. Got an injury during my first on skates training session and didn't feel it!

Likes: Music and photography, live gigs, comedy, reading, following instructions, making people laugh.

Mercy Killer 26

Position: Blocker

Level: Intermediate

Story: I always thought I was too much of a wuss to play roller derby but somehow my boyfriend convinced me I'd be good at it so I gave it a go. Now all I have to do is convince myself I can be good at it!

Likes: A challenge.

Rtu-tu-tu R222

Position: Blocker

Level: Advanced

Story: After seeing an advert at work on a Monday, I fantasised all week till the conveniently close newbie practice that Saturday. The rest, well, my t-shirt says it all: "derby ate my life".

Likes: A good book, cheese, chillies and Jack Daniels.