The Fort Walton Beach Junior Bombers are hitting the road this week with a shot at a national title.
- The B-29 All Stars, the competitive squad of the Junior Bombers roller derby program, will travel to Chicago for the 2026 Junior Roller Derby Association Championship on July 11-12 at Salt Creek Sports Center. All 14 members of the roster will make the trip.
Fort Walton Beach enters the four-team Girls Division bracket as the No. 4 seed and will face top-seeded Santa Cruz in the opening round Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner advances to the championship game Sunday at 4 p.m. Rose City Rollers Juniors out of Portland, Oregon, hold the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 3 Nashville in the other semifinal.
The Bombers earned their bid to Chicago after finishing second at the 2026 JRDA Playoffs, which they hosted in Fort Walton Beach. The team beat Atlanta, the West Coast Jr Derby Knockouts and Nor’East Uprising before falling to Nashville in the final. The top two finishers out of five teams earned championship bids.
It will be the last JRDA competition for six aging-out seniors on the roster:
- Allison Everidge (Bugs)
- Addison Hughes (Ricki Bobbi)
- Marley McMillian (Dusty Mars)
- Rebekah Lee (Punch Bug)
- Alyza Pelegrin (Miami Spice)
- Aspen Bradenburg (Blue Ray)
McMillian was a member of JRDA Team USA in 2025 and won a gold medal at the world championship in Brisbane, Australia. Several Bombers are expected to try out for Team USA 2027 on July 13 in Chicago.
Head coach Nicci Lee, who founded the program, has been selected to the coaching staff for JRDA Team USA at the 2027 world championship in Scotland. She is joined on the Bombers coaching staff by assistant coach Monica Anaya and new skater coach Amy Wiseman. Polly McMillan serves as team manager.
The Junior Bombers, established in 2016, are the first youth female roller derby team in the Florida Panhandle. The program is open to girls ages 8 to 17 and provides training in the sport along with a focus on teamwork, confidence and character development. Three of the current All Stars travel from Jacksonville, Georgia and Alabama to play for the team.
- Fort Walton Beach has hosted the JRDA Playoffs three years running, in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The team’s youngest All Star just turned 12.
The team is raising funds for the Chicago trip through calendar sales on social media, skate nights and car washes.
“We are so proud of these girls and all the work they put in to get where they are,” said Nickie Everidge (Mama Bugs). “This sport does so much for these girls on and off the track. They’re disciplined, hardworking and confident.”
Anyone interested in joining the Junior Bombers can reach the team through its Facebook page, by email at fwbjbombers@gmail.com or by visiting the team’s facility at 41 Windham Ave. SE in Fort Walton Beach during practice on Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m. or Thursdays from 5 to 7 p.m.
