On Saturday, June 30th, the Midwest Sports Hockey Complex at Queeny Park will be the battleground as the GateKeepers fight both the north and the south. In the opening bout, the B-Keepers take on the Chicago Bruise Brothers and in the main event the fourth-ranked GateKeepers Travel Team takes on eighth-ranked Dallas Deception.

The opening bout of the evening will likely be the beginning of a new St. Louis/Chicago rivalry as the Bruise Brothers roll into town to take on the B-Keepers. The Bruise Brothers have only played in one bout so far and that was just a couple of weeks ago as they took on the Green Bay Smackers and lost by a score of 187 - 39. Not a lot is known about this young squad, but they do have one wily veteran who has surely been teaching them the tricks of the trade as Justice Feelgood Marshal joined the squad after relocating to the Chicago area. Chicago will be looking to add this bout to their portfolio for their requirements to join the MRDA and they will learn a lot by playing a B-Team that could likely beat many of the “A” teams in the MRDA today.

In the main event, the GateKeepers look to mess with Texas as the eighth-ranked Dallas Deception come to town. This will be the first full-length, sanctioned bout between these two teams as their last meeting was at Spring Roll in 2010 and it was only a 30-minute exhibition bout in which the GateKeepers were victorious by a score of 43 - 40. However, that bout was ages ago and these are two teams are totally different now. Dallas was not at Spring Roll this year and they have only played one bout so far this season against the Cowtown Butchers (Kansas City) in which they won 321 - 73. Dallas is on the bubble right now sitting at number eight in the MRDA rankings. The 2012 MRDA Championships will be inviting the top eight teams and while Des Moines (1), Magic City (2), New York (3), Puget Sound (4) and the GateKeepers (5) are all pretty much locked in, those final three spots are all up for grabs making every bout count. Dallas doesn’t necessarily need to win this bout either, if they can just manage to keep it close it will likely keep them from slipping. Of course an upset over the GateKeepers would likely vault them up into sixth or maybe even fifth.

Things are going to get interesting in the MRDA as we head into the home stretch of the season. A lot of heavy hitters will be playing against each other and that could shake up the standings some going into Championships.

Tickets are still available for this bout and can be ordered online at Brown Paper Tickets!

The Turf Wars resume on July 21st as the Dogtown Rockets look to continue their unbeaten regular season streak when they take on the South Grand Slammers. Also, you will not want to miss an epic expo bout pitting Superheroes versus Villains. Keep an eye on the site as tickets will be going on sale soon!

Don’t forget that the 2012 Men’s Roller Derby Association Championships will take place right here in St. Louis on October 20th and 21st. Gateway to the Best will feature the top eight teams in the MRDA battling it out at the Midwest Sports Hockey Complex with the last team standing being crowned 2012 MRDA Champions! Tickets can be purchased at a discounted rate right now at Brown Paper Tickets! But you better act fast as the price will increase as we get closer to the event!

See you at the bouts!

Star-Spangled Hammer

Star-Spangled Hammer and Magilla Guerilla are the announcers for the St. Louis GateKeepers!