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ThunderBirds Soar To af2 With AFL Legend Herkie Walls As Coach

November 20, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Daytona Beach ThunderBirds News Release


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - af2 football is coming to Daytona Beach. A franchise in the Arena Football League's developmental league has been awarded to a group of local investors and will begin play March 2008 in Daytona Beach's Ocean Center.

The announcement was made today, Tuesday, November 20, 2007 by Arena Football founder James Foster held at Tailgaters Sports Pub in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Led by noted Daytona Beach businessman and philanthropist Gale Lemerand along with New Smyrna Beach businessman Zack McDonald, the team will be named the Daytona Beach ThunderBirds - paying tribute to a Southern Professional Football League championship team coached by long-time area coach and former Daytona Beach Mayor Bud Asher as well as McDonald's Daytona Beach Thunder team that has played two years.

The nickname "Thunder" is currently in use by an af2 team in Youngstown, Ohio.

"The Arena Football League and the af2 family are excited to be in Daytona Beach,'' said af2 President Jerry Kurz. "The first arena football games in Florida were played in Daytona Beach back in 1988 and the area has produced some of the game's best players. With a solid owner like Gale Lemerand and an energetic management team led by Zack McDonald, we're very optimistic about this market."

Daytona Beach may be known for its "World Famous Beach" and being home to the Daytona 500, but the area has quickly become a football hotbed, with several state high school football powers producing major Division I recruits and a solid Bethune-Cookman program that has produced two NFL second round draft picks in the past five years.

"The quality of football in the Daytona Beach area is amazing," Lemerand said. "Having a professional team in a high-quality, national league is the perfect compliment to the efforts already here. I'm glad to be a part of upgrading this team to a higher level."

The ThunderBirds will be also be a compliment to the AFL's Orlando Predators, one of the AFL's most storied franchises, who play less than an hour away. The Predators already have had an impact on the ThunderBirds with the naming of AFL Hall of Famer Herkie Walls as the team's head coach.

Walls played five seasons for the Predators and is now the head football coach at Master's Academy in Oviedo, Fla.,

"With Herkie Walls, the ThunderBirds have a head coach who has outstanding character and knowledge of the arena game," McDonald said. "We know that Herkie will help us deliver the key ingredient to the success of our franchise - a winning team that develops players for the next level."

The ThunderBirds will also be active in the Daytona Beach area community. One program carried over from the Thunder is the "Student Achievement Award" where tickets are presented to Volusia County school teachers to distribute to students who have done well in the class room or improved their scholastic efforts.

"We have to be more to the community than just eight regular season football games - and hopefully a playoff run," McDonald said. "And we promise to do so. In return, we ask for local business and fans to support our efforts."

The team's web site - dbthunderbirds.com - will go online Wednesday (November 21) afternoon and will contain information on season tickets and other opportunities.

DAYTONA BEACH'S ARENA FOOTBALL CONNECTION

The first arena football games were played in Daytona Beach in 1988 when the entire league (then six teams) played a triple-header in the Ocean Center.

Three other exhibition games have been staged in the Ocean Center, including two sell-outs featuring the Orlando Predators

Local standouts Jeff Parker (Seabreeze, Bethune-Cookman) and TT Toliver (Mainand, Bethune-Cookman) won ArenaBowl rings during their AFL playing careers. Toliver is current active with the Orlando Predators. Emil Ekiyor (Spruce Creek, UCF) and Antwuan Wyatt (Mainland, Bethune-Cookman) had solid AFL careers as well

Bethune-Cookman alumni in the AFL include AFL Hall of Famer Stevie Thomas (Tampa Bay, Orlando); Antonio Stanley (Orlando, Los Angeles); Cedric McKinnon (Cleveland, Tampa Bay); Videl Mills (Tampa Bay); Howard Smothers (Orlando,Buffalo).

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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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