Post by Free Agent Fan on Nov 15, 2007 17:52:08 GMT -5
www.theledger.com/article/20071115/NEWS/711150608/1342/Sports
Lakeland May Have a Team Again, Even If ThunderBolts Don't Return
Ledger Staff, wire reports
LAKELAND | With the fate of the Lakeland ThunderBolts indoor football team in limbo, another league is considering putting a team in its place. And it will hold tryouts Saturday in Tampa.
The American National Indoor Football League plans to begin playing in 13 southeastern cities, including Lakeland, in March 2009, said Warren Watts, partial owner ofPremier Sports Management, which runs the league.
Watts said the league already has contracts to play in Tampa, Orlando, Daytona, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Columbus, Ga., Macon, Ga., Baton Rouge, La., Myrtle Beach, S.C., Memphis, Tenn., and Mobile, Ala. He said Premier Sports Management - which previously owned the Florida Nightwolves in Lakeland - hasn't yet signed a deal to play in Lakeland because it's awaiting final word on the ThunderBolts' plans.
The ThunderBolts won the American Indoor Football Association championship last year. The Ledger reported last month that the team's owners were looking to sell the team or find new partners and the AIFA recently formed a schedule for the 2008 season that does not include the ThunderBolts.
Mike LaPan, executive director of The Lakeland Center, said Wednesday that the AIFA had not committed to any dates for 2008 and that The Center was already filling available dates with other events.
Saturday's tryouts for the new ANIFL will be at Riverfront Park in Tampa at 10 a.m. Players should contact Watts at 813-900-1207. There's a $40 registration charge.
Lakeland May Have a Team Again, Even If ThunderBolts Don't Return
Ledger Staff, wire reports
LAKELAND | With the fate of the Lakeland ThunderBolts indoor football team in limbo, another league is considering putting a team in its place. And it will hold tryouts Saturday in Tampa.
The American National Indoor Football League plans to begin playing in 13 southeastern cities, including Lakeland, in March 2009, said Warren Watts, partial owner ofPremier Sports Management, which runs the league.
Watts said the league already has contracts to play in Tampa, Orlando, Daytona, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Columbus, Ga., Macon, Ga., Baton Rouge, La., Myrtle Beach, S.C., Memphis, Tenn., and Mobile, Ala. He said Premier Sports Management - which previously owned the Florida Nightwolves in Lakeland - hasn't yet signed a deal to play in Lakeland because it's awaiting final word on the ThunderBolts' plans.
The ThunderBolts won the American Indoor Football Association championship last year. The Ledger reported last month that the team's owners were looking to sell the team or find new partners and the AIFA recently formed a schedule for the 2008 season that does not include the ThunderBolts.
Mike LaPan, executive director of The Lakeland Center, said Wednesday that the AIFA had not committed to any dates for 2008 and that The Center was already filling available dates with other events.
Saturday's tryouts for the new ANIFL will be at Riverfront Park in Tampa at 10 a.m. Players should contact Watts at 813-900-1207. There's a $40 registration charge.
This also leaves the possibility of another league cropping up called the NCIFL (National Continental Indoor Football League). Is there no end ?