Chicago, IL — After a 2013 inaugural season and a year of rapid growth, the Chicago Bruise Brothers will kick of 2014 with a packed schedule of bouts both home and away. Since the end the 2013, which concluded at home in October, the club has been accepted into the Men’s Roller Derby Association.

Founded in 2007 (originally as the Men’s Derby Coalition), MRDA is the established authority for men’s roller derby across the world, and holds an annual championship tournament to determine the sport’s international champion and runners-up. The Chicago Bruise Brothers’ move into MRDA constitutes as step up into the big leagues of roller derby as well as a number of exciting opportunities to play roller derby.

The Bruise Brothers will break the first whistle with a road trip in which they will meet the Cincinnati Battering Rams in their first MRDA bout on Saturday, March 1st in Cincinnati. The next morning, The Bros will play a MRDA-sanctioned bout versus the nationally ranked Race City Rebels, from Indianapolis.

The remainder of The Bros’ season holds other challenging fixtures, including another away trip on June 28 to St Louis, to take on the B-Keepers, as well as three bouts against the club’s arch rivals, the Capital City Hooligans from Springfield, Ill to determine the winner of the newly established  Illinois Cup. First, The Bros will travel to Decatur, Ill. to play Capital City on March 22, followed by a rematch in Lombard on April 19 to start off the home season. The third bout of The Illinois Cup date is To Be Announced. In 2013 the two teams met twice, with Bruise Brothers conceding a one-point game 177-176 to Capital City in Decatur in June, followed by a last minute nail-biter on October 13 in which the Hooligans skated away with the win.

In the works for The Bros are more road trips, possibly to upper Midwest and a few invitational tournaments, to be announced officially in coming weeks. The team will also participate in exhibition bouts, including the coed black-n-blue Rhythm & Bruise bout in Rockford, IL and The Corruption Cup, tentatively scheduled for October 25 in Lombard, Ill.

At the beginning of 2014, the Chicago Bruise Brothers elected two new captains, Princess A. Pauling and Steampunk Willie.

The Chicago Bruise Brothers play and practice every Wednesday and Sunday at the Lombard Roller Rink at 201 W 22nd Street in Lombard. If you would like to join The Bros for a skate or participate in one of our open practices, please email training@chicagobruisebrothers.com.