Apple City Roller Derby presents the fourth annual Bavarian Bruisefest

The fourth annual Bavarian Bruisefest roller derby tournament is coming Jan. 13, 14 to the Leavenworth Festhalle. Twelve teams from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Canada are coming to town for the two-day tournament.
The previous years have gone great, according to event organizer and Apple City Roller Derby Head Coach Madeline Praye.
“We’ve been able to do a bigger and bigger tournament every year. The 2017 tournament was the first two-day tournament. Years one and two were one-day tournaments. Last season and this season, we’re able to go over the whole weekend,” Praye said.
The tournament has expanded to two days, Praye said, because more teams want to participate, plus it is a double-elminiation tournament so there are more games.
When tournament spots are open, teams reach out, she said.
“We have a good variety of teams coming to skate. Some are returning teams, like Snake Pit from Coeur d’Alene. They have come every year,” Praye said.
Teams coming to the tournament include Chaos Theory Pickup Rollers from eastern Washington, Spokannibals Roller Derby from Spokane, which won in 2015 and 2016, Snake Pit Derby Dames from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Rolling Hills Derby Dames from Pullman, Palouse River Rollers from Pullman, Overbeaters Anonymous from Washington, which won last year, Lilac City Roller Derby of Spokane, Gorge Roller Girls of Hood River, Oregon, Camero Harem, a league team of Jet City Roller Derby from Everett, Bellingham Roller Betties of Bellingham, Avalanche City Roller Girls from Fernie, British Columbia and Apple City Roller Derby, from the Leavenworth/Wenatchee area.
ACRD was originally just going to host the tournament, but not skate, but since the couple teams dropped out due to the challenge to fill their roster, ACRD will be filling the 12th seed.
Praye said they have a new group of skaters and some returning veterans.
“Our main goal is to put on a great tournament and that is hard when you have host and skate. It’s a really big challenge. We rely on a lot of volunteers to help us do that,” Praye said. “We will be skating, but we’ll be skating at the lowest rank in the bracket. The first two years we skated and hosted. It’s really stressful because you want to focus on the games, but then you switch really quickly to hosting. It is mentally tiring to do that.”
ACRD is a new team, so they are just going out for playing time, she said, but there are definitely teams out there to win. The winner gets their registration fee back. Apple City Roller Derby is part of the Leavenworth Chamber, so Praye said they have been working through the chamber to find event sponsors.
“We’re bringing 12 teams that have 16 skaters plus their families plus the coaches. We’re bringing a significant amount of people to Leavenworth,” Praye said. “It’s during the Bavarian Ice Fest. There will be lots of fun stuff to do when teams aren’t skating. I think that is what brings teams to Leavenworth because Leavenworth is a destination location. It’s fun to bring your family, skate and explore the town.”
Attendance at the event has been strong over the years, she said.
“Because it is a long weekend of derby, we have people coming in and out. They will watch a couple games, then go explore, then watch the rest. We’ve always had really good attendance,” Praye said.
The Bavarian Bruisefest is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 13, 14 at the Leavenworth Festhalle. Tickets are $15 for Saturday, $10 for Sunday and $20 for the whole weekend. Kids 6-15 are $10 for the whole weekend. Kids 5 and under are free.
Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.