Kaiserslautern Roller Derby and the Rhein-Neckar Delta Quads take on the Bundesliga

Kaiserslautern Roller Derby match | KRD’s rookie team played their first home game against Strasbourg,France, in December 2023. (Andreas Koenig)

Kaiserslautern Roller Derby (KRD) and the Rhein-Neckar Delta Quads from Mannheim are joining forces in the Roller Derby Bundesliga. As a new team by the name of KRDQ they’re opening the 2024 season on April 20th with an away game against the Rolling Rat Pack in Regensburg. KRDQ’s first home game follows right after: On Saturday, April 27th, at 3 p.m. the team faces Stuttgart Valley Roller Derby in the sports venue of the Schulzentrum Süd in Kaiserslautern. Afterwards, the new skaters from both KRD and the Delta Quads are getting a chance to show what they can and to gather some experience. They’re playing a mixed team with skaters from Mainz, Karlsruhe, Frankfurt and Marburg. Tickets are 7 Euros at the door, or free for children under 10. The Bundesliga is a nationwide roller derby competition, separated into a first division and two second divisions (north and south Germany). In the 2024 season, a total of 17 teams are competing. Over the course of the season KRDQ is also playing the Gemstones in Erfurt on August 24th. A second home game is planned against Bembel Town Roller Derby from Frankfurt.

Kaiserslautern Roller Derby match | Kaiserslautern Roller Derby (in black) against Beastie Derby Girls Reims in April 2023. (Andreas Koenig)

What is roller derby?

To put it simply, roller derby is a type of speed skating with full contact. During each jam, which lasts up to two minutes, each team has five players on the field. One of them is the Jammer. Your job is to get past the other members of the opposing team - the blockers. For each person lapped there is one point. The blockers must in turn try to stop the opposing jammer and help their own jammer. In its current form, roller derby has existed since the late 90s and is played primarily, but not exclusively, by FLINTA* (women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans and agender people).

Kaiserslautern Roller Derby | Kaiserslautern Roller Derby (in black) was joined by some Delta Quads skaters for their game against Bembel Town in September 2023 (Andreas Koenig)

Kaiserslautern Roller Derby

Kaiserslautern Roller Derby has their first home game on April 27th in Kaiserslautern. Attached is the flyer for said event. You also may have seen it posted outside of the commissary on base. I am willing to provide a couple of tickets to you or a colleague to come watch the game if anyone is interested. There will also be the opening game of the bundesliga with KRDQ vs Stuttgart Valley Roller Derby.

Kaiserslautern Roller Derby will also be starting our next new skater intake class in September. Visit https://kaiserslauternrollerderby.org/ for details on how to join.