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AFL Arena Football League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
September 28, 2009 - Arena Football League (AFL)


BASEBALL

Eastern League: The Double-A Eastern League has officially announced the Norwich-based Connecticut Defenders will be moving to Richmond (VA) for the 2010 season. The team has announced it will also hold a contest to rename the team prior to the move. The Defenders were previously the Norwich Navigators franchise, which entered the Eastern League in 1995 with the relocation of the Albany-Colonie Yankees. The Navigators changed to the Connecticut Defenders for the 2006 season. Apparently, other Eastern League teams suffering from low attendance, such as the Binghamton Mets, Harrisburg Senators, Erie SeaWolves, and Bowie Baysox, were also interested in a possible move to Richmond.

New York-Penn League: With the move of the Connecticut Defenders to Richmond, it is expected that the city of will begin to look for a replacement team, possibly from the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League, the New England Collegiate Baseball League, or even the independent Can-Am League. Two current NY-Penn League franchises, the Burlington-based Vermont Lake Monsters and the Jamestown (NY) Jammers have been mentioned as relocation candidates. Ironically, Vermont is the former Jamestown Expos team that move to Burlington after the 1993 season and the Niagara Falls Rapids moved to Jamestown to become the Jammers the following week.

Frontier League: Construction on the ballpark for the Frontier League's new Normal (IL) CornBelters franchise is moving forward and expected to be ready for the team to start play in 2010.

Atlantic Baseball League: Development plans are in progress for a new 5,700-seat ballpark in Loudoun County (VA) that will become home to an ABL franchise. The ballpark is set to open for the 2011 season.

Northern League: Work on a new ballpark in Zion (IL) for the new Lake County Fielders franchise of the Northern League is expected to resume next week. The ballpark is set to open in June 2010.

Florida Winter Baseball League: The new four-team FWBL plans to start its 60-game schedule in late October 2009 and run into late January 2010. Current teams include the Lake County Black Bears, Los Diamantes de Miami (Miami Diamonds), Seminole County Naturals, and Space Coast Surge. The league plans to expand to 8 teams by 2011 and to 12 teams by 2013. Possible expansion cities include Bradenton, Sarasota, Lakeland, Winter Haven, Vero Beach and Fort Myers. The FWBL could eventually develop a partnership with Major League Baseball.

BASKETBALL

Pacific Professional Basketball Association: The proposed PPBA plans to start its inaugural season in January 2010. As of now, two teams-the Clayton (CA) Showtime and the Alaska Dream (Anchorage)-have committed to the new league. Both teams had been associated with the American Basketball Association. Additional PPBA teams are in the works and the league plans to start with about 15 teams, most of which will be on the West Coast.

Premier Basketball League: The PBL's new 2010 team in Las Vegas team is expected to be called the Las Vegas Thunderbirds. The league also plans to add 2010 teams in South Carolina (Greenville), Oklahoma (Lawton-Fort Sill), and Puerto Rico. At least six teams from last season-Halifax Rainmen, Manchester Millrats, Quebec Kebs, Rochester Razorsharks, Vermont Frost Heaves and Buffalo Stampede-are expected to return for the 2010 season.

American Basketball Association: The ABA's Riverside Rage has been renamed the Riverside Rainmakers for the 2009-10 season. A Florida-based team called the Heartland Herd is looking for players and reportedly is going to be an ABA travel team.

Texas Professional Basketball League: A Dallas-based team called the Texas Hurricanes has joined the TPBL for its upcoming 2010 season. The TPBL has been trying to establish a San Antonio-based team over the past couple of seasons, but a recent group trying to fund a San Antonio team has dropped its entry. The league had a San Antonio team called the Alamo City's Finest (ACF) back in 2005.

Eastern Basketball Alliance: The New York Blaze and Warren (OH) Buzz, two previously announced new EBA men's teams for 2010, are now listed as 2011 teams along with the New England Legion and last season's Cincinnati Century.

FOOTBALL

Arena Football 1: An announcement is expected this week for a new indoor football league, reportedly called Arena Football 1, which would combine former arenafootball2 and Arena Football League markets, along with some possible expansion teams. Representatives from af2 teams in Oklahoma City, Little Rock and Spokane (WA) confirmed they would be part of the new league and other af2 markets like Tulsa, Fresno, Milwaukee and Des Moines could also join. The ownership of the af2's Rio Grande Valley Dorados has confirmed that the team will not be part of the new league. The former AFL markets of Phoenix, San Jose, Orlando, and Salt Lake City are expected to be part of the new league. The Salt Lake City team is expected to be the Utah Valley Thunder team from the American Indoor Football Association, not the Utah Blaze from the AFL. Some former AFL ownership groups are still interested in restarting the AFL in 2011.

Southern Indoor Football League: The SIFL's Austin Turfcats franchise has decided to move to the Indoor Football League for the 2010 season because it had five Texas-based teams for more regional travel. The SIFL announced it has added the Columbus (GA) Lions and South Carolina Force (Greenville) from the American Indoor Football Association and has several other expansion teams under consideration for next season. The league is interested in the Albany (GA) market, which had the South Georgia Wildcats in the 2009 arenafootball2.

American Indoor Football Association: The AIFA has lost the Columbus Lions and South Carolina Force to the Southern Indoor Football League. The owner of the league's Orem-based Utah Valley Thunder is planning to move the team to Salt Lake City as part of a new league called Arena Football 1. The AIFA plans to add the New Jersey Kings (Trenton), Richmond (VA) Raiders, Wenatchee Valley (WA) Venom, and possibly a team based in Albany (GA). The AIFA had 14 teams in its 2009 season.

Indoor Football League: The IFL has added the Austin Turfcats from the Southern Indoor Football League. The Turfcats will most likely be part of the IFL's Lone Star Division, which had five Texas-based teams in 2009. The league previously confirmed the Richmond (VA) Revolution will start play in 2010 and it is working toward adding the La Crosse (WI) Spartans, Arctic Predators (Wasilla, AK), and other possible teams for 2010.

Regional Indoor Football League: The proposed RIFL plans to start play in 2010 and some teams have posted schedules. As of now, it looks like there are six RIFL teams-Colorado Titans, Florida Scorpions (Bradenton), Fort Worth Diablos, Hobbs (NM) Gamblers, Texas Regulators (Dallas/Fort Worth) and West Texas Rustlers (Midland). The Florida Scorpions and a team called the Denver Titans played a couple of road games on the 2009 schedule of the indoor American Professional Football League. The Regulators, Rustlers, and Diablos, previously the Wichita Falls Diablos, are under the same ownership. The Regulators and the Wichita Falls Diablos tried the APFL in 2008, but were eventually suspended during the season. Both teams plan to play their 2010 home games at the same arena in North Richland Hills.

HOCKEY

ECHL: The saga of the once-proposed Gulf Coast Swords ECHL franchise is nearing an end. Construction was stopped on a 7,400-seat arena located between Bradenton and Sarasota (FL) back in 2005 due to financing issues. Attempts to complete the arena failed and the remaining partially built structure will now be torn down. The ECHL's Columbus (GA) Cottonmouths franchise was sold after the 2003-04 season and was to start play in the new arena as the Gulf Coast Swords for the 2005-06 season. Due to the arena delays, the ECHL eventually revoked the franchise in September 2006.

Canadian Junior-A Hockey League: The CJHL is Canada's Junior-A hockey organization below the Major-Junior level Canadian Hockey League, which consists of the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The CJHL operated with ten member leagues in 2008-09. For the 2009-10 season the organization will have 11 teams, as the Ontario Junior Hockey League was split into two separate leagues-the new 21-team Central Canada Hockey League and the new 15-team Ontario Junior "A" Hockey League. Other CJHL member leagues include: the Alberta Junior Hockey League, British Columbia Hockey League, Central Junior 'A' Hockey League, Manitoba Junior 'A' Hockey League, Maritime Junior 'A' Hockey League, Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, Quebec Junior 'AAA' Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior 'A' Hockey League, and Superior International Junior Hockey League.

SOCCER

Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL-Pro): The 1790 Cincinnati team in the PASL-Pro league has changed its name to the 1790 Cincinnati Express. The league's Wenatchee (WA) Fire team has suspended operations and will not have team in the PASL-Pro league's 2009-10 season. The Wenatchee Fire reserve team in the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL-Premier) will continue to play in 2009-10. The Tacoma Stars of the PASL-Premier league are reportedly discussing a move up to the PASL-Pro league, possibly for 2009-10.

Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL-Premier): The Denver Dynamites will return for its second season in the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL-Pro) under new ownership by the Rocky Mountain Arsenal LLC and with a new reserve team in the PASL-Premier league. The Highland Ranch Heat, which started play in the 2009 PASL-Premier summer season, has now become the Dynamite's developmental PASL-Premier team, replacing the Dynamite Reserve team. The former Dynamite Reserves team has been replaced by the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. The Highland Ranch Heat will play in both winter and summer seasons of the PASL-Premier, while the Arsenal will play only in the summer season.

Vancouver Metro Soccer League: The 2009-10 fall/winter outdoor season of the VMSL has started. The league's top Premier Division features 12 teams this season. The VMSL and the summertime Pacific Coast Soccer League draw from the same pool of players in British Columbia.

Dan Krieger is the creator of "Leagues, Teams & Nicknames", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The latest 2008-09 version can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/6218580. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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