This weekend, Greystones and the East Coast Cyclones will play host to only the second ever roller derby tournament to be held on Irish soil. The last one was in Belfast and was an absolute belter – with Dublin Roller Derby A coming home the overall winners – with Belfast Roller Derby in second place and Limerick Roller Derby in third.

This, Queen Bee Tournament, The Battle for the Garden, is focussed on the B-teams and the newer, less-established teams in the country and will feature the host team, Belfast City Rockets, Boom Town Rollers from Dublin, Dublin Roller Derby B and the Waterford City Viqueens.

Dublin Roller Derby B team are probably the most experienced of the lot, but the four newer teams have had a lot of game time lately and have been impressing me hugely with how far they have come.

The format of the tournament will be ten short qualifiers played on Saturday and early Sunday, followed by three playoff games on Sunday to establish final rankings.

The event will be taking place at the Shoreline Leisure Centre, Greystones – and the all-important afterparty will be on at the Harbour Bar. It’s gonna be mega!

Tickets for the whole weekend cost just €25, or you can go for a single day for €15.

You can buy online from Brown Paper Tickets – and if you’re bringing the kids, under 12s are FREE!  The event’s details are all up on facebook too!

Saturday Doors open 11:30am to the public.

Sunday Doors open 10:00am

If I haven’t been fired yet, I’ll be part of the awesome announcer line-up! See you there!