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Akron-Canton Ohio Added To 2010 Expansion Teams

July 21, 2009 - American Basketball Association (ABA) News Release


Indianapolis, IN. The American Basketball Association (ABA) today announced that Akron-Canton will be added to its growing roster of teams set to begin play in the 2010 season. According to Joe Newman, ABA CEO, "This team and owner has very special significance to us as it will feature several Native American basketball players, something that is long overdue in our very diversified league. Native America has some great basketball players, and our new owner, Tyse Rogers is part Yakima Indian. We are very pleased and excited to have him as part of the ABA."

Rogers is the owner of Revelry Sports, a diversity-based company designed to bring multiple cultures together to share similarities and differences through various sports. "It's amazing how much cultures have in common, but because of religion or politics, many cultures don't collaborate well," stated Rogers. "But through sports, any race or nationality can come together to obtain or seek a common goal or task. That is exactly what Revelry Sports is trying to portray and deliver to all who come across its path."

"We chose Akron-Canton as a market in honor of Jim Thorpe, who has a 7 foot statue in Canton and where he played his first pro football game for the Canton Bulldogs at the turn of the century,:" added Rogers. "We think Akron-Canton will allow us to expose something new to a lot of people and make an impact. While I could have chose a Native American reservation as a market, we believe we can honor Native Americans beautifully here."

The father of two adopted daughters and a native of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Rogers spent six years on the Flathead Reservation and was a tri-sport athlete for four years at Ronan High School in Ronan, Montana and holds the 400m record for track. At Notre Dame College of Ohio, he set three Falcon track and field records before transferring to Myers University and graduating with a B.S.B.A in Sports Management. He also ran cross country, track and played basketball for the Mustangs.

"The ideals of Native people really drive me. I have met some great Native ambassadors, players and humanitarians," he commented. "I've been lucky to have been raised in the Mission Valley and able to watch, play with and play against some great Native American players such as J.R. Camel, Mike Chavez and Zachary "Sky" Pitts. We are going to have a very competitive team and are very proud to be a part of the ABA. We're building some excellent relationships already with companies like Best Buy and their tag team volunteers. We see nothing but great success in front of us."

"It is important to me to have a successful team. Nobody likes to lose. But I also want a successful team and successful means a lot of things when we are dealing with diversity," Rogers concluded. "This team will be full of leaders; full of ambassadors of their respective tribe, race and nationality. And we hope to create many scholarships for students, student athletes and volunteers both local and on Indian reservations."

For more information, email revelrysports@yahoo.com or visit www.abalive.com.

Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.



American Basketball Association Stories from July 21, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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