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IBL's Hotshots new ownership preparing for season two

September 22, 2005 - International Basketball League (IBL)
West Coast Hotshots News Release


The Central Oregon Hotshots, the region's first professional basketball team, will be returning to the local hardwood in 2006, this time under both new and old ownership. The team has announced that A'HA! Sports LLC, consisting of founding partners JJ Anderson, Michelle Anderson and Chet Hildebrandt has acquired the rights to the International Basketball League (IBL) franchise.

"This is a great opportunity for each of as owners to help this franchise get to the next level as a professional entity," said partner JJ Anderson. "We are very grateful to our other co-founding partners, Mikal Dulio (IBL Commissioner), Tony Alvarez (League Operations Director) and Robert Penson who worked hard to make our inaugural season a success. We accomplished a lot starting only two months before tip-off last year, including leading the West Coast in attendance. However, we felt a smaller ownership group consisting of strictly local owners would best suit the long-term success of the organization," Anderson summarized. The Hotshots were second in the league last season with a 9-1 home record and placed two members on the IBL All-Star squad including Forwards Ashley Champion and Steve Moss-Kelly who combined to average over forty-nine points per game. The fast and furious style of play of the IBL proved exceptionally exciting as the Hotshots averaged 129.3 points, scored over 135 nine times and scored a season high 170 points in a season-ending home victory over the Vancouver Volcanoes.

The Hotshot's owners, wile happy with the overall success of the first year franchise, have much higher expectations and goals for season two, starting with increasing attendance. "At the end of each game, we all would talk to as many people as we could and every single one of them expressed their appreciation for the excitement of the game and, most importantly, the friendliness of our players. There is nothing better than seeing hundreds of kids running around in their Hotshots' shirts asking for photos and autographs and our players are always happy to oblige." That accessibility, combined with the excitement of the games is what Hotshot owners will help push home attendance over 1000 per game after having averaged around 700 fans last year. As Anderson, who also served as Head Coach last season, points out, "when there's that type of energy and scoring in the games and having access to the athletes, it keeps the fans coming back; and when the fans are happy, the sponsors are happy and that's what will allow us to keep this team in Central Oregon for many years to come.

"Quite frankly, we didn't have much of a marketing budget last year," confessed Anderson. "We operated on a shoe-string budget and took a very grass-roots approach. There was a buzz out there, unquestionably, but we certainly hope to hit the masses this time around. When more people are aware, more people will com. We know that anyone who comes has a great time. The games are just a fun environment and you don't have to be crazy about basketball to get a thrill out of the experience. As a coach and basketball fan, I don't care for the NBA game, but this type of environment should really appeal to those who have a bad taste in their mouth about ‘Professional Basketball'."

Outside of increasing attendance, the Hotshots are very focused on increasing their community involvement. Last year the team hosted several clinics and helped local high schools and youth groups raise several thousand dollars, but look forward to increasing their clinics to weekly events, holding some weekend and summer camps and hosting a large scale charity event to help raise money for local youth groups. In order to continue positively impacting the Central Oregon Community and providing affordable family entertainment, the Hotshots will be aggressively seeking sponsorship in an amount to eclipse $50,000. "None of us owners started this team to earn a living - we're very involved in our own local businesses. We simply wanted to bring quality professional basketball and entertainment to the region. It's all about increasing our local quality of life and providing some good role models for the kids. In order to do that, though, we definitely need the support of our local business community."

Anderson also thinks the IBL's expansion will help with the Hotshots' goals as the team has expanded into seven new markets. The league now consists of 24 teams nationally including the 7 new franchises (Eugene, Salem, Cuyahoga Falls (OH), Aurora (CO), Elkhart (IN), Holland (MI) and Lake County (IL). "I think the IBL has done an excellent job with expansion", noted Anderson. "The IBL model is focused on developing geographical clusters which keep travel costs down - a major expense in minor league sports. They've had a chance to expand in many regions, but have instead chose to focus on growing the existing regions, meaning more opponents within closer range. For us, that means some exciting new in-state rivalries with Salem and Eugene. I'm sure we can expect to see several former Oregon Ducks and OSU Beavers on those teams which will always be exciting for our fans."

Taking away from the Oregon talent pool is definitely a potential threat for the Hotshots, but one Anderson feels confident will be overcome. "We are a unique market in the IBL. We are literally the only franchise that has to bring in the majority of our players from outside of our community. With no college here, there really is no local talent pool - we're fortunate to have one or two players from here that are capable of playing on this level. We have had quite a few players on other Northwest-based IBL teams that have expressed their interest in playing for us this year. They like our system, the environment and the great fan support, so I feel confident we'll still grab a few of those talented players from in-state as well. Besides, I think it's exciting to mix those players with guys throughout the country. It's intriguing to the fans and it allows those players to really experience Central Oregon and connect with our community members."

The Hotshots will begin their second season in March of 2006 and again the focus is on affordable, family-friendly entertainment. Anderson summarized a Hotshots' game experience as a "48 minute race - it's fast-paced, high scoring and provides a great venue for families to experience professional basketball at its best. The players are accessible; the local facilities provide an intimate setting and people walk away feeling that they got more than their money's worth for great entertainment." To find out more about tickets or sponsorship information, visit http://www.hotshotsfan.com.

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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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