Propelled by its dominant regular season, the St. Louis GateKeepers recently received placement in the Men’s Roller Derby Association (MRDA) post-season tournament.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The local roller derby franchise, ranked second internationally, meets seventh-ranked Southern Discomfort in the opening round of the MRDA 2014 Championships, entitled “Maritime Mayhem,” in Seattle, Washington, October 18 & 19.
The placement of seeds for the eight-team bracketed tournament was based on the MRDA rankings released last week. Thanks to its 161-153 win over former #2 New York in July, St. Louis climbed one position in the MRDA hierarchy to earn the second seed.
The GateKeepers (10-0) have overwhelmingly dominated a majority of its competitors this season, collectively outscoring them, 3945-478.
No, that’s not a typo. That’s a differential of close to 3,500 points in ten games.
St. Louis faced the UK-based Southern Discomfort in May and collected a 279-66 victory. The London entrant marks the first appearance of an European league in a MRDA post-season tournament.
The tournament’s quarterfinals are as follows: (1) Your Mom Men’s Derby vs. (8) Denton County Outlaws, (2) St. Louis GateKeepers vs. (7) Southern Discomfort, (3) New York Shock Exchange vs. (6) Mass Maelstrom, and (4) Puget Sound Outcast vs. (5) Bridgetown Menace.
For more information on the STL GateKeepers, go to stlgatekeepers.com.
By trade, he is a six-time, regional Emmy Award-winning news videographer/editor for KTVI/KPLR-TV. By hobby, he is a writer for Arch City Media, dating back to February 2014. Emphasis is on featuring and promoting local women's sports, but will cover anything that is not reported by traditional media outlets. Also a contributor to local concert reviews.
