Pride Bowl II, the national LGBT flag-football tournament hosted by the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association ( CMSA ) over Pride weekend, has nearly doubled in size in only its second run.
There will be 20 teams playing, up from 12 in its inaugural year last summer.
Eight teams are Chicago-based, including the Jackhammer Bears and the ( Mary's ) Attic Attack.
" [ With ] Pride Bowl, I got universal praise; everyone was impressed with the job Chicago did hosting the tournament. That's why we increased the number of [ participating ] teams," said CMSA Vice President and flag-football commissioner Shawn Albritton. "Despite [ being in ] a recession, and with other gay tournaments having their number of participating teams drop, we dramatically increased the number of teams; I think that really says something about this event."
Games will be played Friday and Saturday on the soccer fields at Montrose Beach.
The San Diego Bolts were the 2008 champions—and they will be back to defend.
"What we saw last year was, the level of play at the Pride Bowl was on par with the Gay Super Bowl," Albritton said.
Ah, yes, the Gay Super Bowl—considered the pinnacle of gay flag football. The event will be held in Washington, D.C., this year, in Phoenix in 2010, and CMSA has officially bid—and is the only one to do so, so far—to host the 2011 event, Albritton confirmed.
The host city for the 2011 event will be announced next February by the National Gay Flag Football League.