Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
August 30, 2021 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
BASEBALL
Atlantic League: The independent Atlantic League officially announced the addition this week of the new yet-to-be-named Staten Island (NY) expansion team that gives the league nine teams. This summer, the league president stated Salem (VA), which is currently home to the Salem Red Sox in the affiliated Low-A East League, was also being targeted for expansion in 2022.
Low-A East League: Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox are interested in bringing an affiliated team back to Lowell (MA) and its Salem (VA) Red Sox affiliate in the Low-A East League could be the relocation candidate. The Lowell Spinners, a former member of the affiliated Short-Season Class-A New York-Penn League, lost its MLB affiliation prior to the 2021 season when the NYPL was disbanded. The Lowell ballpark sat empty this season, but the city has committed $10 million for improvements.
High-A West League: The Vancouver (British Columbia) Canadians of the High-A West League announced the team will not return to Vancouver for any home games near the end of the 2021 season, and it will continue to play any remaining 2021 home games in Hillsboro (OR), which is home to the league's Hillsboro Hops.
BASKETBALL
Canadian Elite Basketball League: With the arrival of the American Hockey League's Abbottsford Canucks (British Columbia) to the Abbottsford Centre for the 2021-22 season, the CEBL's Abbottsford-based Fraser Valley Bandits have not secured a lease at the arena for 2022 and there is speculation the team could move to Langley (British Columbia).
American Basketball Association: The semi-pro ABA announced a new team called the Bennington (VT) Martens will join the league for the 2021-22 season. The team will play in North Adams (MA) until its new home gym is ready. The league also announced a new initiative called Native ABA for Native American players and it will start with a team called Native ABA based in the Indian country of Northeast Arizona. The goal is to have 10 to 12 tribal teams comprised of and managed by Native Americans. The ABA tried and failed with a proposed Albuquerque-based Native ABA team for the 2004-05 season. Other proposed Native American teams called the American Soaring Eagles (Anderson, IN) and Wind River (WY) Bison never made it in 2015, while the Native Pride (Miami) did play in the 2015-16 ABA season.
New Nation Basketball Association: The new NNBA started its inaugural fall season this weekend with four teams called the Henderson (KY) Hornets, Memphis Rail Runners, St. Louis Trotters and Tennessee Sting (Nashville area). Each team is scheduled for seven games through October 23, 2021, and is hosting one weekend event for all teams. Henderson, St. Louis and Tennessee played in the former Mid-States Basketball Association, while Memphis had played in the former Central Basketball Association.
FOOTBALL
Indoor Football League: The IFL's new Las Vegas expansion franchise announced the team will be called the Vegas Knight Hawks when it starts play in the 2022 season. The team will play at the new Dollar Loan Arena being built in suburban Henderson. The IFL's Quad City Steamwheelers team, which sat out the 2021 season due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), is planning its return for the 2022 season.
United Football League: The proposed new UFL, which is billed as America's premier spring football league, is under development and states it has purchased several franchises from the failed National Gridiron League. The UFL currently lists three former NGL team names, the Atlanta Wildcats, Pittsburgh Pioneers and Kansas Kapitals (Kansas City, MO), along with the Chicago Blue Bombers team that was the former NGL's Fort-Wayne-based Indiana Blue Bombers. Additional teams will be announced in the fall.
HOCKEY
ECHL: The ECHL's Newfoundland Growlers (St. John's) team has reached a three-year lease agreement with the city's Mile One Centre and ends the uncertainty as to team's status for the 2021-22 season. The team's ownership also purchased the St. John's Edge of the National Basketball League of Canada, but that team has been displaced by a proposed American Basketball Association team at the Mile One Centre and it is unclear if and where the Edge will play.
Greater Metro Hockey League: Canada's independent Junior-A GMHL is planning a return for the 2021-22 season after only the four-team Alberta-based West Division played regular-season games in the 2020-21 season. Of the GMHL's 19 other teams, which are aligned in North and South divisions, 18 are located in Ontario and 1 in Quebec. The Toronto Predators moved to Niagara-on-Lake (Ontario) for the 2021-22 season. The GMHL has announced some new West Division teams called the Gibbons Pioneers (Alberta), Mackenzie Mountaineers (British Columbia) and Edson Aeros (Alberta) for 2021-22.
Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League: The Junior-B GOJHL, which last played in the 2019-20 season due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, recently announced its 2021-22 season schedule will feature 25 teams aligned in an eight-team Golden Horseshoe Conference, a nine-team Western Conference and an eight-team Midwestern Conference. Since the league's last season, the Buffalo Regals team has left the league; the Brampton Bombers relocated and are now the Caledon Bombers; the Kitchener Dutchmen team was purchased by a former Junior-C team and relocated to become the Ayre Centennials; and the Waterloo Siskins were renamed the Waterloo-Kitchener Siskins.
SOCCER
Major Arena Soccer League: The MASL announced the Mesquite (TX) Outlaws and Rochester (NY) Lancers will be sitting out the upcoming 2021-22 season, but both teams plan on returning for the 2022-23 season. The MASL also announced the Turlock Cal Express team will move to the lower-level MASL2 for the 2021-22 season. The MASL currently lists 13 teams in a seven-team East and a six-team West.
National Independent Soccer Association: The Division-III professional NISA announced an affiliation with a sixth amateur league called the Cascadia Premier League, which recently changed its name from the Western Washington Soccer League.
USL Championship (United Soccer League): The group trying to build a new 6,300-seat soccer stadium in Des Moines (IA) for a Division-II USL Championship team received a commitment from Polk County for $7 million toward the project. Stadium construction is expected to start next year with 2024 targeted for the inaugural season.
USL W-League (United Soccer League): The new version of the USL W-League, which plans to start in 2022 as a pre-professional women's soccer league, announced a third Georgia-based team called the Peachtree City MOBA and the Northern Virginia FC (Leesburg), or NoVaFC, have joined for the inaugural 2022 season. Both organizations operate men's teams in the pre-professional USL League Two. The Northern Virginia FC had a former women's team called the Northern Virginia Majestics that played 14 seasons (1999-2012) in the previous second-division version of the W-League, which was shut down after the 2015 season.
USL League Two (United Soccer League): The FC Malaga City New York (Duchess County) team in the men's pre-professional USL League Two has been renamed the Pathfinder FC after it cut ties with the Spanish club FC Malaga City.
OTHER
Major League Cricket: As the MLC tries to get off the ground in 2023, it is developing talent through its Minor League Cricket (MiLC), which is playing this summer with 27 teams. The Atlantic Conference has a six-team Southern Division and a seven-team Eastern Division, while the Pacific Conference has a seven-team Central Division and a seven-team Western Division. The 2021 MiLC season runs from late July through September.
Premier Ultimate League: After cancelling its second season in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the women's PUL ultimate frisbee league played a shortened 2021 season consisting of three separate tournament events this month with each weekend event featuring three teams. The East Tournament in Bayonne (NJ) featured the New York Gridlock, Raleigh Radiance and DC Shadow; the International Tournament in Portland (ME) featured the Portland (ME) Rising, Revolution Ultimate (Medellin, Columbia) and Austin Torch; and the Midwest Tournament featured the Milwaukee Monarchs, Columbus Pride and Indianapolis Red. The PUL's three other teams called the Atlanta Soul, Nashville Nightshade and Minnesota Strike did not participate in the tournament events.
Dan Krieger is the creator of the Weekly Sports League & Franchise Report, which has been tracking changes in the sports world's leagues, teams and nicknames since April 2007.
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Major Arena Soccer League Stories from August 30, 2021
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
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.
