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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
June 21, 2010 - North American Soccer League (NASL)


BASEBALL

New York-Penn League: The 14-team short-season Class-A NY-Penn League has started its 2010 season. The only change from last season was the move of the Oneonta (NY) Tigers to Norwich (CT) where the team was renamed the Connecticut Tigers for 2010. The Tigers remained in the league's Stedler Division.

Northwest League: The eight-team short-season Class-A Northwest League has started its 2010 season with the same team names and alignment that it has had since the 2001 season. The Eastern Division has the Boise Hawks, Spokane Indians, Tri-City Dust Devils, and Yakima Bears, while the Western Division has the Eugene Emeralds, Everett AquaSox, Salem-Keiser Volcanoes, and Vancouver Canadians.

Can-Am League: A group in Montreal has identified a possible site for a 4,500-seat ballpark in the Montreal area that it hopes can eventually become home to a franchise in the independent Can-Am League. The league has been interested in the Montreal market for several years as a potential rival for its Quebec Les Capitales team in Quebec City.

Florida Summer Collegiate League: The five-team FSCL plans to add a sixth team called the Winter Haven Loggerheads for its 2011 season.

Prospect League: The summer-collegiate Prospect League added 4 new teams and increased to 15 teams in 2010, but the league is not done growing and could eventually reach 20 teams in the future.

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced a new Gainesville (FL) team and a new Georgia Knights team have been added to the Southeast Division for the upcoming 2010-11 season. The league has two other teams-the Seven City Knights and South Jersey Knights-with the Knights nickname. The ABA has confirmed that the new Dallas Impact will be part of the Southwest Division and the new Modesto (CA) Hawks will be part of the Nor-Cal Division.

Iowa Basketball Exposure League: The new IBEL has started its inaugural season with three teams called the Central Iowa Hybrids, Des Moines Hydrogen, and Iowa Wind Turbines. Each team will play a four-game schedule in the month of June with all games played at one location in the Des Moines area.

Southeastern Exposure Basketball League: The SEBL plans to start its 2010 summer leagues on July 5. The SEBL will again feature a pro-level Metro-A League Conference with a North Division based in Cartersville (GA) and a South Division based at Clayton State University in Morrow (GA). The SEBL's City B-League Conference and women's league will again operate in Cartersville for the 2010 season.

FOOTBALL

Arena Football League: The Philadelphia Soul, San Jose SaberCats, and Kansas City Brigade will join the new AFL for its second season in 2011. These teams were part of the original AFL that operated from 1987 ton 2008. As part of the original AFL, Philadelphia played five seasons (2004-08), Kansas City played three seasons (2006-08), and San Jose played 14 seasons (1995-2008). The original AFL was unable to return for a 2009 season and eventually filed for bankruptcy. The latest version of the AFL, originally called Arena Football One, was formed for the 2010 season from the remains of the AFL and its former minor indoor football league known as arenafootball2 (af2). For now, the newer AFL has increased from 15 to 18 teams. Kansas City could change its nickname before starting play in the 2011 season.

American Indoor Football Association: The ownership of the Fayetteville (NC) Guard has announced it will no longer operate the AIFA franchise after this season. The AIFA could operate the franchise until a new owner is found that would keep it in Fayetteville, or the franchise could be sold and relocated. The Arctic Predators have decided to cancel its final two home games that were to have been played against local Anchorage-based semi-pro teams. The franchise still hopes to return for the 2011 AIFA season.

Regional Indoor Football League: The RIFL reports that the Lake Erie Buzz will wait until 2011 to start play. The league has received verbal agreements from teams called the Claymont (DE) Buccaneers and the Florida Stingrays (Fort Myers) to join the RIFL for its 2011 season. The Florida Stingrays played in the 2008 season of the American Indoor Football Association.

Ultimate Indoor Football League: The proposed UIFL, which plans to start play in March 2011, has announced its fourth team will be based in the eastern Kentucky city of Pikeville. Johnstown (PA), Huntington (WV), and Northern Kentucky (Highland Heights) were previously announced as UIFL locations.

Professional Indoor Football League: The Tyler-based East Texas Drillers, which played as part of the 2009 Independent Indoor Football Alliance, will be part of the new PIFL in 2011. Another 2009 IIFA team called the Oklahoma Titans, now the Ardmore Titans, also plans to be part of the PIFL. The PIFL has noted other possible teams called the DFW Bombers and the Kansas City Stars for its inaugural season.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: The AHL has announced its divisional alignment for the upcoming 2010-11 season, which will be its first with 30 teams and one affiliate for each National Hockey League team. Each conference will have a seven-team and an eight-team division. With the move of the Lowell Devils to Albany, the new Albany Devils affiliate has been switched from the Atlantic to the East Division. The former Albany River Rats team, now the Charlotte Checkers, will remain in the East Division. The new Oklahoma City Barons have been added as the eighth team in the West Division. There were no changes to the North Division.

International Hockey League: The IHL's Flint Generals will not play in 2010-11 after the franchise failed to acquire a new lease at its home arena. The arena management has signed a five-year deal with a new Tier II Junior-A team called the Michigan Warriors of the North American Hockey League that will start play in 2010-11. The relocated NAHL team operated as the Marquette (MI) Rangers in 2009-10. The IHL had developed a new ownership group for the Generals franchise and hoped it would be part of an affiliation between the IHL and the Central Hockey League for the 2010-11 season. The Port Huron Icehawks franchise announced it would discontinue operations after three seasons in the IHL. It appears as though the four remaining IHL teams will operate as a separate division in the 2010-11 CHL/IHL affiliation, which is not expected to be a full merger of the two leagues at this time. The IHL was still considering a new Evansville team being added for 2010-11.

ECHL: The owner of the former Chicago Hounds team, which played one season (2006-07) in the defunct United Hockey League, is trying to bring a new ECHL team to the Sears Centre in the Chicago area.

All American Hockey League: The AAHL has pushed back its deadline for new expansion teams until the end of June as it considers potential markets in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio.

North American Hockey League: The Tier II Junior-A NAHL has announced its new Amarillo team will be called the Amarillo Bulls when it starts play in the 2010-11 season. The Storm and Osprey were other nicknames under consideration. The new Amarillo NAHL team purchased the roster of the Albert Lea (MN) Thunder, which had been taken over by the league during the 2009-10 season.

Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH held its first Summer Pro Tour event last weekend in Irvine (CA). Due to pending legal issues, the MLRH plans to postpone its next Summer Pro Tour event in Michigan and replace it with an expanded co-ed Slamm Hockey event in California. The league plans to expand for its upcoming fall season with the addition of a Southern California Division, along with new teams in Illinois and Michigan. The league is also working on an Empire State Division in New York State.

SOCCER

North American Soccer League: In preparation for its start in 2011 as part of the NASL, the new FC Edmonton team played its first exhibition match this past week against the Montreal Impact.

United Soccer Leagues Super 20 League: The USL Super-20 League has started its 2010 season for elite level players that are 17 to 20 years old. The men's league has 48 teams split into Mid Atlantic, Midwest, Southeast, New England, Pacific Southern California, and South Atlantic divisions. The women's league has 26 teams split into Mid Atlantic, New England, South Atlantic, and Rocky Mountain divisions.

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North American Soccer League Stories from June 21, 2010


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