Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
April 2, 2012 - National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada)
BASEBALL
Frontier League: The Washington (PA) Wild Things of the independent Frontier League have announced an agreement to work with developers in Bridgeport (WV), just south of Morgantown, to build a ballpark for a Frontier League team that could start play in the 2014 season.
Atlantic Baseball League: The Camden (NJ) Riversharks of the independent ABL have announced plans to play one of its 2012 home series against the new Sugar Land (TX) Skeeters in Atlantic City (NJ) as a way to gauge support for a possible return to the city with an ABL team in 2013. The ABL had a previous team called the Atlantic City Surf for nine seasons (1998-2006). That team moved to the Can-Am League for two seasons (2007-08) before folding.
North American League: The NAL has undergone a management change as the Diamond Sports and Entertainment group, which had operated the league's Chico (CA) Outlaws franchise and managed the day-to-day operations of the league, will no longer manage the NAL. Diamond Sports was unable to field a team in Chico for 2012 and was behind in paying league-related expenses. The NAL plans to move forward with ten teams in 2012. The league's six Texas-based teams, which comprise the Southern Division, are under one ownership group. The four Northern Division teams each have separate owners.
Pecos Spring League: The Pecos Spring League completed its inaugural month-long season that ran through the month of March 2012 with all games played in the Houston area. The league-operated team called the Coastal Kingfish played other teams called the Austin Mudcats, Coastal Pirates, Houston Apollos, Houston Hornets, Pearland Braves, Texas Coyote, and Westchase Express. The league plans to have four league-operated teams for its 2013 spring season. The second regular summer season of the Pecos League plans to start in May 2012 with six teams. The teams include the returning Alpine (TX) Cowboys, Las Cruces (NM) Vaqueros, Roswell (NM) Invaders, and White Sands Pupfish (Alamogordo, NM), along with new teams called the Santa Fe (NM) Fuego and Trinidad (CO) Triggers.
BASKETBALL
Tobacco Road Basketball League: The new TRBL has started its inaugural season with seven teams. The schedule includes five full-schedule teams called the Cary (NC) Invasion, Carolina Gladiators (Johnson County, NC), Fayetteville (NC) Crossover, Prime Time Players (Rock Hill, SC), and Wilmington (NC) Sea Dawgs, along with two travel teams called the Queen City Express (Charlotte, NC) and Big Texas (Jacksonville, NC). The Cary Invasion, Fayetteville Crossover, and Wilmington Sea Dawgs were part of the 2011 Continental Basketball League, while the Carolina Gladiators were part of the 2010-11 Eastern Basketball Alliance. A proposed exhibition team called Team Macleem was not on the schedule.
American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced it will return to the Fresno area in 2012-13 with a new team called the Fresno Flight. The league had a team called the Fresno Heatwave for two seasons (2004-06), an attempted team called the Fresno Legends/Rebels in 2008-09, and the Fresno-based Central Valley Dawgs in the 2009-10 season. The ABA's recently announced Las Vegas Knights team for the 2012-13 season is now called the Las Vegas Defenders.
International Basketball League: The Paramus-based New Jersey G-Force, which is a new 2012 short-schedule or "branding" team in the 2012 IBL, has announced it will play four road games and two home games in the upcoming season. Home games will be played at Bergen County Community College.
National Basketball League of Canada: The NBL-Canada plans to meet with the city of Hamilton (Ontario) next week about the possibility of a franchise being located in the city for the 2012-13 season. It is uncertain as to whether or not it would be a relocated team or an expansion team. The wants to expand for its second season and has set a deadline of May 31, 2012 for franchise applications.
FOOTBALL
Lone Star Football League: The new Texas-based indoor LSFL has started its inaugural 2012 season with seven teams. The league is comprised of the Abilene Ruff Riders, Corpus Christi Hammerheads, Houston Stallions, and Rio Grande Valley Magic (Harlingen) from the 2011 Southern Indoor Football League; the Amarillo Venom and West Texas Roughnecks (Midland/Odessa) from the 2011 Indoor Football League; and a new team called the Laredo Rattlesnakes. A proposed eighth team called the Mesquite Bandits had its membership revoked back in January 2012.
Women's Spring Football League: The WSFL plans to have an eight-team 11's Division with 11-player teams and an eight-team 8's Division with 8-player teams when its starts its 2012 season later this month. The league recently announced a new Pittsburgh-based team called the Three Rivers Xplosion will be part of the 8's Division in 2012. The league has already announced some new 2013 teams called the California Vipers (Los Angeles area) and Nashville Smashers.
Independent Women's Football League: The IWFL has changed its relationship with a proposed Guam-based IWFL division for the upcoming 2012 season. The new Guam Women's Tackle Football League will become an IWFL Affiliate League sanctioned by the IWFL. Teams in the GWTFL will play a six-player game known as Sixxes Football during the regular season. Teams in Guam will be eligible for the annual IWFL post-season championships.
Stars Football League: After playing a short 2011 season, the outdoor SFL is planning for its second spring-summer season in 2012. Some of the proposed teams for 2012 include the Port St. Lucie (FL) Racers, Fort Lauderdale Barracudas, Fort Pierce (FL) Orange, Fort Myers Swampdogs, Michigan Coyotes, Canton Bulldogs, and Cleveland Ironmen. Other possible teams include the New Orleans Jazz, Mobile Gladiators, Las Vegas Gamblers, and Charleston Admirals. The league had only four participating teams in its inaugural 2011 season-the Daytona Beach Racers, Fort Lauderdale Barracudas, Michigan Coyotes, and New Orleans Jazz.
HOCKEY
National Hockey League: Quebec City has announced it will move forward toward construction of an 18,000-seat NHL-style arena that is expected to be completed by September 2015. A former NHL team called the Quebec Nordiques moved from the city to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche for the 1995-96 season. The NHL's Phoenix Coyotes franchise has been mentioned as a possible relocation candidate for Quebec City.
ECHL: The three current ECHL franchises-the Trenton (NJ) Titans, Greenville (SC) Road Warriors, and Wheeling (WV) Nailers-have come under new ownership, but all teams expect to remain in their current markets for next season.
North American Hockey League: The Junior Hockey News has reported that the Springfield (MO) Junior Blues of the Tier-II junior-level NAHL could come under new ownership and, if approved, would stay in Springfield for the 2012-13 season. The team had previously announced plans to sit out next season. The new ownership group also owns the Albuquerque-based New Mexico Renegades of the junior-level Western States Hockey League. There is also speculation the NAHL's St. Louis Bandits team will move to Johnstown (PA) for next season.
Federal Hockey League: The FHL is reportedly looking at the Dayton (OH) market for a possible franchise. The city has had the Dayton Gems of the Central Hockey League for the past couple of seasons.
SOCCER
Women's Premier Soccer League - Elite League: The new eight-team WPSL Elite League has announced its 2012 schedule that will run from May 10 to July 22. Each team will play a 14-game season with home and away games against the other teams. The 2012 teams include the ASA Chesapeake Charge (Maryland), Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Indiana, New England Mutiny, New York Fury, Philadelphia Fever, and Western New York Flash. Although the New York Fury recently replaced the Aztec MA team in the 2012 WPSL Elite League, the Aztec MA plans to play in the regular WPSL for 2012 and try to join the Elite League in 2013.
Liga Mexicana de Futbol Rapid: The 2012 season of Mexico's professional indoor soccer league known as the LMFR is underway. The 14-week season runs from February 24 to June 2. The league has eight teams called the Astros de Tepic, Deportivo Rancho Seco (Coahuila), Diablos Macaaray (Chiapas), Diablos Rojos de Durango, Flash de Monterrey, Guerreros de la Raza de Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque 2000 (Jalisto), and Virmac CFR Professional. The Diablos Macaaray replaced the PPM Sidekicks del Estado de Mexico in the 2012 alignment. The LMFR is affiliated with the Professional Arena Soccer League.
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 2010-11 edition is available at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/leagues-teams-nicknames-the-leagueology-almanac-2010-11/15228513. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.
National Basketball League of Canada Stories from April 2, 2012
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
- NBL Canada Weekly Report - NBL Canada
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.
