The Brewcity Bruisers (BCB) was founded on October 19, 2005 by Butch Cassidy, Jesse Jameson, and Chris Carny Power. Within a few months over 80 women signed up to become rollergirls in Milwaukee. They trained at local roller rinks and the first bout was an exposition event at the 2006 Summerfest music festival on Milwaukee’s lakefront. From August through December 2006 the Bruisers held the first home season hosting bouts at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex in Franklin, WI. The BCB called the Sports Complex their home for their first four home seasons.
Following the first home season in 2006 the Bruisers quickly formed an interleague team, the Brewcity Bruisers Allstars, who competed in their first interleague bout against the Sin City Rollergirls in Las Vegas in May 2007. The BCB became a member league of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and in 2008, the Allstars became a chartered WFTDA team. The Allstars continue to compete for international rankings at home and on the road. Current rankings of the Brewcity Allstars and the over 300 international WFTDA leagues can be found at http://www.wftda.com/leagues! In 2009 the Brewcity Battlestars interleague B-team, the Battlestars, was formed to expand interleague play for BCB.
During 2010, the Bruisers experienced huge success and outgrew their four-season-home of the Milwaukee County Sports Complex. In May 2010, the BCB hosted their season four Championship bout at the U.S. Cellular Arena (now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena) in downtown Milwaukee. Since then, the Bruisers have held all home season bouts at the arena.
The Brewcity Bruisers held the first annual Midwest Brewhaha tournament in May 2010 and hosted teams from across the country for a two-day roller derby event. Now the Midwest Brewhaha continues to expand, hosting top WFTDA charter teams and WFTDA B teams, as well as MRDA (mens’ roller derby), junior roller derby and non-affiliated flat-track teams. Current information about the upcoming Midwest Brewhaha Tournament can be found at http://www.brewcitybruisers.com/midwest-brewhaha/
2011 was a busy year for the Brewcity Bruisers. In addition to becoming a 501c3 non-profit organization they also formed a recreational roller derby league, the Brewcity Bootleggers. The Micro Bruisers junior roller derby sessions started in January 2012 to train the next generation of derby players and referees.
2013 was another busy year for the Bruisers, as they carried out their home season, hosted the Midwest BrewHaHa, and then hosted 2013 WFTDA World Championships at the U.S. Cellular Arena. Champs brought in the top 12 teams from all over the world, including the first international team to make the finals – the London Rollergirls. Gotham took home the coveted Hydra trophy for the third straight year, while the Texas Rollergirls came in second.
In 2019, the league went through a restructure. With a focus on improving competitiveness and enhancing local recruitment and training efforts, the four home teams (Shevil Knevils, Maiden Milwaukee, Rushin’ Rollettes, & Crazy 8s), were retired after the finals exhibition games. The restructure consolidated the number of teams that represent the Brewcity Bruisers from six to three. Promotional focus has shifted to sanctioned games played by the elite interleague team, the Brewcity Allstars. The Brewcity Battlestars and Brewcity Craft Brews will represent the league during exhibition games.
The skaters and officials of BCB continue to push the action and level of gameplay up to higher levels. Check our main page http://www.brewcitybruisers.com and sign up for our newsletter for updates! Don’t miss a moment of the action!
Previous years’ home season champions:
- 2007 – Rushin’ Rollettes
- 2008 – Crazy 8s
- 2009 – Rushin’ Rollettes
- 2010 – Rushin’ Rollettes
- 2011 – Crazy 8s
- 2012 – Crazy 8s
- 2013 – Crazy 8s
- 2014 – Crazy 8s
- 2015 – Rushin’ Rollettes
- 2016 – Rushin’ Rollettes
- 2017 – Maiden Milwaukee
- 2018 – Crazy 8s
- 2019 – Crazy 8s