As the weather starts to warm up in the Northern Hemisphere, it can mean only one thing — tournament season is about to get underway! We’ve got a handful of MRDA Endorsed Tournaments already on the docket, which are going to keep your spring exciting and have big results when it comes time to see who’s going to Play-Offs!
Are you hosting a tournament that you’d like to see become MRDA endorsed? Please see our interest form here: https://goo.gl/forms/toMoc2hhHNZrdVBE3
April 14-15, April Angst, Philadelphia, PA
Come join us in the City of Brotherly Love for an exciting weekend of men’s roller derby hosted by The Philadelphia Hooligans! Formerly known as March Manness, this is the 3rd year of this tournament, appropriately renamed, April Angst. Come join the Philadelphia Hooligans and enjoy the sights and sounds of high level MRDA action.
Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1998864773662645/
May 4-6, The Big O, Eugene, OR
Emerald City Roller Derby (ECRD) is proud to announce that they will be hosting the 8th annual Big O Roller Derby Tournament at Lane County Events Center in Eugene, OR. We are excited to be bringing together top adult and junior roller derby teams from around the world to compete in a 3-day, action packed roller derby tournament that has been heralded as THE early season tournament to establish team rankings in the WFTDA, MRDA and JRDA.
ECRD is thrilled to be able to bring together top ranked WFTDA and MRDA teams such as the 2017 WFTDA World Champions Victorian Roller Derby League, the 2016 WFTDA World Champions Rose City Rollers, the reigning MRDA champions St. Louis Gatekeepers, and #2 ranked Bridgetown Roller Derby as well as crowd favorite Wheels of Mayhem. Our Juniors division is expanding this year and includes JRDA #1 ranked Santa Cruz Derby Groms and #2 ranked Seattle Derby Brats. Adult and junior teams will be competing in multiple bouts on 3 separate tracks over 3 days for an exhilarating weekend of world class roller derby. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3182852, at the door or through ECRD and competing team members.
Visit www.ECRG.com/BigO or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EmeraldCityRollerDerby/ for more information, including a full list of this year’s competitors, information on local events and a list of our generous sponsors.
May 12-13, Battle of Bunker Hill, Fitchburg, MA
Battle of Bunker Hill is back for its 3rd year! And this year we’re excited to announce that we’ll be featuring 4 MRDA teams and 4 WFTDA teams. Each of those groups will play a round robin over the course of two days. We are really excited to incorporate both MRDA sanctioned games and WFTDA sanctioned games this year!
The event will be held May 12-13, 2018 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Venue is the Wallace Civic Center: http://www.fitchburgfalcons.com/insideAthletics/wallace_civic_center/index
Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/173630103402827/
June 15-17, Wheels of Steel, Pittsburgh, PA
Wheels of Steel 3.0 is a men’s roller derby tournament featuring 8 MRDA Charter Teams from across the east coast and mid west. In its third year, 13 bracketed games will be played over this long weekend to crown this year’s Champion!
Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1914838078835044/?ti=as
Skabarella started reffing to primarily referee men’s derby over 6 years ago, and was one of the first MRDA Recognized officials in Europe. She has refereed both men’s world cups, MERDC and all MECs including holding the position of crew head. Ska was THR for Men’s British Championships for 2 years and was instrumental in setting the event up for the men’s divisions . She was Head Referee at Manchester Roller Derby for over 5 years and has recently been appointed Head Referee for Team England Men, as well as holding the post of MRDA Officials Area Coordinator for Europe. Ska likes cats.
Biggie Talls has been involved with MRDA roller derby since 2011: first as a player and then president of Puget Sound Outcast Derby, then as an official at MRDA events including 2015 MRDA Championships and the 2016 Battle of Bunker Hill. He has been a roller derby official since 2010, having officiated flat, banked, MRDA, WFTDA, and junior derby at over 30 tournaments and invitational events. Currently he is the head referee of the Dockyard Derby Dames, a WFTDA league near his home of Olympia, Washington, USA
sHellCat’s derby journey began 9 years ago when she attended a bout in Los Angeles; ever since that first roll out she’s been hooked. She spent several years in the Bay Area slinging beers for a local league before taking the plunge into officiating. In just 5 seasons, sHellCat has racked up the miles working dozens of tournaments. She currently sits on the Board Of Directors of the Rose City Rollers, assists in training new NSOs at RCR, is an MRDA Recognized Official, and a Level 4 WFTDA Certified NSO. When she’s not exploring the map for roller derby, she bakes goodies for the RCR crew, knits, works as a volunteer counselor for a crisis hotline, manages compliance for a large recruiting firm, and hangs out with her ridiculous elderly Basset Hound (Ruby).
