Post by fwp on Mar 19, 2010 21:04:17 GMT -5
www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2010/mar/18/westward-ho-for-indoor-football-aifa-likes/?sports
WENATCHEE — The American Indoor Football Association is all about second chances.
The league, based in Harrisburg, Pa., grew out of Michael Mink and John Morris’ desire to give young men a second chance in the game of football — and perhaps a shot at the NFL down the road.
“My mother always wanted me to coach football,” Mink said from Yakima, where he is helping the Yakima Valley Warriors (a rival of the Venom’s in the AIFA’s West Division and its season-opening opponent) get its franchise ready to play.
“She passed away in a tragic accident, and we formed a team in her name, the Gulf Coast Raiders, in Clearwater, Fla., where I’m from,” Mink said. “We played an outdoor season and finished 9-1. Then we bought a team from Montgomery, Ala., and turned them around. We didn’t want to go back into that league because we thought it was mismanaged, so we formed our own league with our own structure. That’s how the AIFA was born.”
The Wenatchee Valley Venom will begin play on March 20 as the 11th team in the league, which has franchises from New Jersey to Alaska.
Since its formation in October 2006, the AIFA has undergone restrained growth, preferring to build passionate fan bases in small cities.
“If you have a market with a lot of major league teams, it’s tough for a team in our league to get noticed,” Mink said. “In markets like Reading, Pa., Casper, Wyo., and Wenatchee, our teams are one of if not the big show in town. But you have to have great ownership. You can have the best market in the world, but with bad owners, that market will be run into the ground. The guys in Wenatchee have done a great job and have built a solid organization, and the town has responded tremendously.”
After three seasons of operation, the league has remained strong through a time of tumult in indoor football.
The Arena Football League and its spin-off af2 have collapsed since 2008, and the AIFA has been a beneficiary through player dispersal.
The AIFA also has moved to fill the vacuum in the West created by the dissolutions of the AFL and af2. In addition to Wenatchee, the league has expanded recently to Yakima and Wasilla, Alaska.
Wenatchee will compete in the West Division of the AIFA along with Yakima and Wasilla. Other teams in the West will be Ogden (Utah), San Jose (Calif.) and Wyoming, last season’s division champ.
The Reading (Pa.) Express won AIFA Bowl III last season.
WENATCHEE — The American Indoor Football Association is all about second chances.
The league, based in Harrisburg, Pa., grew out of Michael Mink and John Morris’ desire to give young men a second chance in the game of football — and perhaps a shot at the NFL down the road.
“My mother always wanted me to coach football,” Mink said from Yakima, where he is helping the Yakima Valley Warriors (a rival of the Venom’s in the AIFA’s West Division and its season-opening opponent) get its franchise ready to play.
“She passed away in a tragic accident, and we formed a team in her name, the Gulf Coast Raiders, in Clearwater, Fla., where I’m from,” Mink said. “We played an outdoor season and finished 9-1. Then we bought a team from Montgomery, Ala., and turned them around. We didn’t want to go back into that league because we thought it was mismanaged, so we formed our own league with our own structure. That’s how the AIFA was born.”
The Wenatchee Valley Venom will begin play on March 20 as the 11th team in the league, which has franchises from New Jersey to Alaska.
Since its formation in October 2006, the AIFA has undergone restrained growth, preferring to build passionate fan bases in small cities.
“If you have a market with a lot of major league teams, it’s tough for a team in our league to get noticed,” Mink said. “In markets like Reading, Pa., Casper, Wyo., and Wenatchee, our teams are one of if not the big show in town. But you have to have great ownership. You can have the best market in the world, but with bad owners, that market will be run into the ground. The guys in Wenatchee have done a great job and have built a solid organization, and the town has responded tremendously.”
After three seasons of operation, the league has remained strong through a time of tumult in indoor football.
The Arena Football League and its spin-off af2 have collapsed since 2008, and the AIFA has been a beneficiary through player dispersal.
The AIFA also has moved to fill the vacuum in the West created by the dissolutions of the AFL and af2. In addition to Wenatchee, the league has expanded recently to Yakima and Wasilla, Alaska.
Wenatchee will compete in the West Division of the AIFA along with Yakima and Wasilla. Other teams in the West will be Ogden (Utah), San Jose (Calif.) and Wyoming, last season’s division champ.
The Reading (Pa.) Express won AIFA Bowl III last season.