Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
June 14, 2010 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)


BASEBALL

Frontier League: If ballpark construction financing in Woodstock (IL) is not in place by the end of next month, the new McHenry County K-Nines expansion team in the Frontier League might have to wait until the 2012, instead of 2011, to start play.

Northern League: The proposed new ballpark in Zion (IL) for the Northern League's Lake County Fielders expansion team will not open as planned this month, so for now the Fielders' home games are being moved to Carthage College in Kenosha (WI). A temporary home field in Zion is expected to be ready by July 2, 2010. Also, the league has expressed interest in Omaha's new 24,000-seat downtown stadium for a possible team. The stadium will become home to the College World Series in 2011.

Atlantic Baseball League: The ABL plans to add a franchise in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land (TX) for the 2012 season. This move is part of a westward expansion that could see the league eventually add four to six teams in a new division. The league also plans to add a team in the Washington (DC) suburb of Loudoun (VA) in 2012.

Golden Baseball League: The GBL has denied reports that the Yuma (AZ) Scorpions are considering a move to Mexicali (Mexico) in the near future because of poor attendance. The league stated that Yuma might play a few games in Mexicali this season, but those details have yet to be worked out.

American Association: The AA was looking at future expansion to a proposed new ballpark in Fort Smith (AR), but local interest in the project has apparently cooled. A feasibility study was completed, but the poor economy has city officials questioning the cost of the project.

Peach State League: The new Peach State League, which plans to play all of its games in Macon (GA) for its inaugural 2010 season, has announced that the Albany (GA) Quails, Warner Robins (GA) Aviators, and Milledgeville (GA) Capitals will each play 14 games against the home team called the Macon Pinetoppers. The schedule will run from June 19 to August 8.

New York State League: The pay-to-play developmental NYSL reports that its 2010 season will now consist of three 50-game sessions from early June to early September. The league has two new teams-the Fiorellos and Ten Eycks-added to the previously announced Capitols, Federals, Hudsons, and Empires.

Northwoods League: The city of Mequon (WI) has approved a new ballpark to be built on the campus of Concordia University that will also be used for a future summer collegiate Northwoods League team.

BASKETBALL

Premier Basketball League: The PBL's Manchester Millrats plan to make several announcements on June 21 that will address the status of the team's expected move to St. John (New Brunswick) for the 2011 season. The league has approved the franchise relocation. The PBL also considered Moncton (New Brunswick) as a possible team location, but that has been put on hold for now.

American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced it will return to St. Louis with a new team called the St. Louis Pioneers. The ABA previously had the St. Louis Flight (2004-06), originally announced as the Rottweilers, and a St. Louis Stunners team that played off and on over three seasons (2006-09). St. Louis and the new Corbin (KY) team are now part of the South Central Division. The ABA also announced a new Pacific Northwest Division team called the Kings County (WA) Rampage.

Women's Blue Chip Basketball League: The semi-pro WBCBL has started its sixth summertime season with 57 teams listed in 10 regional divisions, although some of the teams might not actually play any games this season. Some of the new teams playing this season include the Tallahassee Thunder, Cleveland Crush, Lexington (KY) Lightning, Toronto Lady Elite 1s, Central VA All-Stars, RDU Sting (Raleigh-Durham), RDU Travelers, Columbia (MO) Reign, St. Louis Surge, Chicago Eagles, and Rock County (WI) Robins. The WBCBL regular season runs through the month of July.

West Coast Basketball League: Although the Los Angeles Buzz won the 2010 WCBL championship, the team's owner says he will remove the team from the league next season due to a dispute over the way the teams were seeded for the 2010 playoff games.

Women's United States Basketball Association: The proposed 12-team WUSBA, which was unable to start as planned in 2010, now plans to start up in June 2011 with 15 teams split into Appalachian, Southern, and Atlantic divisions. The Norfolk Blaze has replaced the Richmond Blaze, while the Macon Storm has replaced the Louisville Storm. Three other teams called the Richmond Colonial, Nashville Thunder, and Raleigh Road Runners have been added. New cities and teams will be added periodically with the complete schedule available in January 2011.

Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League: The proposed ACPBL is now up to six teams with the recent addition of teams called the Long Island Lions and the Hudson Valley Generals.

FOOTBALL

American Indoor Football Association: The ownership of the Ogden (UT) Knights announced that the team plans to make a full return in 2011 after playing only two home games this season. A group in Worcester (MA) is trying to develop an AIFA franchise called the New England Gladiators. The city recently had the New England Surge for two seasons (2007-08) in the Continental Indoor Football League.

Canadian Football League: The CFL hopes to return to Ottawa with a franchise in time for the 2013 season. The city of Ottawa will be making its final vote at the end of this month on a redevelopment project that includes rebuilding the city's former CFL stadium.

Indoor Football League: The IFL has accepted a letter of intent from an Arizona group that plans to place a team in Tucson for the 2011 season. The league hopes to add more teams in the Southwest.

HOCKEY

National Hockey League: The NHL now appears interested in the possibility of franchises returning to Winnipeg and Quebec City under the right circumstances, with Winnipeg at the top of the list. Winnipeg's arena might need some modifications, while Quebec City is trying to build a new NHL-style arena.

American Hockey League: The AHL has approved the move of the Lowell (MA) Devils franchise, which is owned by the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League, to Albany (NY). The team will be called the Albany Devils in the 2010-11 season. New Jersey was the parent club for the AHL's Albany River Rats from 1993 to 2006.

Central Hockey League: The CHL has announced that 13 of its 15 teams from last season will return for the 2010-11 season. The Amarillo Gorillas and Corpus Christi IceRays will not return, as those cities will become home to junior hockey teams. In addition, the CHL plans to add at least four teams-the Fort Wayne Komets, Bloomington Prairie Thunder, Dayton Gems, and Quad City Mallards-from the International Hockey League. Additional teams could be added before the schedule is released in July.

SOCCER

United States Soccer Federation D-2 Pro League: The Miami FC Blues team, which is playing in the 2010 USSF D-2 Pro League and a member of the North American Soccer League, plans to start using the Strikers nickname in 2011. The nickname was used by the area's Fort Lauderdale Strikers franchise that played seven seasons (1977-83) as part of the original North American Soccer League. Other minor league soccer teams in the area used the Strikers name from 1988 to 1997.

Canadian Soccer League: The Reserve Division of the 13-team CSL has started its 2010 season with 10 teams. Three CSL teams-the Toronto Croatia, London City, and Montreal Impact Academy-are not operating Reserve Division teams in 2010.

National Premier Soccer League: A team called the Galveston (TX) Pirate SC plans to join the NPSL this fall. The 2010 NPSL season is already underway with over 30 teams playing into the month of July.

National Star Soccer League: The amateur NSSL has started its second season with 28 teams divided into a 9-team North Central Conference, an 8-team Southwest Conference, a 6-team Northwest Conference, and a 5-team South Central Conference. Conference schedules run from early May to late August.

Premier Arena Soccer League: It appears as though the teams for the 2010 PASL-Premier summer season are set. The women's division, which only plays in the summer, will have a five-team Rocky Mountain Division and a five-team Pacific Division. The men's summer season has a five-team Rocky Mountain Division and a seven-team Pacific Division. The season runs through July.

Women's Premier Soccer League: The Florida Soccer Alliance purchased the Florida Surge WPSL team this year and has renamed it the FSA Freedom for the 2010 season. The Surge joined the WPSL in 2008.

OTHER

National Pro Fastpitch: The NPF has started its 2010 season with four teams-the Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, Tennessee Diamonds (Nashville), and the USSSA Florida Pride (Kissimmee). The league lost the Philadelphia Force and Rockford Thunder after last season, but added the new Tennessee team that took over Rockford's roster. The regular season runs until mid-August.

American National Rugby League: The AMNRL has started its 2010 season that runs from early June to late July and again features 11 teams. The Bucks County Sharks did not return from last season, but the Pittsburgh Vipers were added for 2010.

Rugby Canada National Junior Championship: The second season of Rugby Canada's U-20 National Junior competition has started with 12 teams split among Atlantic, Central, Prairie, and Pacific divisions. The competition runs from late May to mid-July.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the Leagueology™ almanac known as "Leagues, Teams & Nicknames", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The latest 2009-10 edition is available at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/leagues-teams-nicknames-2009-10/6534940. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.



American Indoor Football Association Stories from June 14, 2010


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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