Indoor Football HistoryThe AIFA From the AIFA website: AIFA-The 14 teams in the AIFA - in addition to the Freeze - are the Canton (Ohio) Legends, Danville (Ill.) Demolition, Huntington (W.Va.) Heroes, Johnstown Riverhawks, Pittsburgh RiverRats and Reading Express in the North, and the Carolina (Concord, N.C.) Speed, Florence Phantoms, Mississippi (Tupelo) MudCats, Montgomery (Ala.) Bears, Lakeland (Fla.) Thunderbolts, Springfield (Ill.) Stallions and the Tallahassee (Fla.) Titans and Baltimore Blackbirds.The owners and management team of the American Indoor Football Association want to thank our many fans for a successful 2007 season. It was a pleasure meeting many of you this past weekend at our All-Star and Championship games. We feel as a first year organization we have taken great strides in becoming one of the premier indoor football leagues in America. The AIFA has had some great successes this year- attendance league wide is up; the talent level of our players is strong and team owners are starting to share in profit sharing for the first time. In addition the AIFA had six national sponsors in 2007 as well as the web casting of its games. This years AIFA All-Star and Championship games were nationally televised live and are still continuing to air in many television markets across the country taped delayed. Has the AIFA been perfect, not yet but we are working on it? We have implemented some projects such as web casting, that had its problems early on and quite honestly we did not realize all the logistics and problems we would encounter with different arenas and how they were set up and wired. Starting with this past weekend's All-Star and Championship games the AIFA and its member teams worked hard at becoming more accessible and fan friendly. We opened the arena up on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for any fan who wanted to watch practice or just pick out their seats for the upcoming games. Tuesday and Wednesday nights we had socials for the players where AIFA owners, staff and team owners interacted with fans. On Thursday night AIFA league owners John Morris and Michael Mink picked up the dinner tab for any fan attending the AIFA awards banquet thanking them for their support. Any fan that came up to an AIFA staff member during the week was given a tour of the arena and introduced to AIFA owners, team owners and league sponsors and vendors. Even the AIFA owners social after the games were open to our fans, only two events were closed during the week to our fans, pre-game players meals on game day and a two hour long team owners meeting on Saturday. As the future approaches us we have many exciting things that will be presented at our August 2007 owners meeting for the 2008 season. It is however the policy of the AIFA to release upcoming information about our league only through national press releases. Knowing that many of our fans communicate about the AIFA through message boards we will add WWW.AIFAFANS.COM to our list of media outlets receiving our press releases. We will however not debate the pros and cons of any subject matter on any message boards and we will instead let each fan decide for themselves if the AIFA is the league for them. In addition the AIFA will be adding a special email address specifically for fans wanting to make suggestions to the AIFA. The CIFL From The CIFL Website: CIFL-The Continental Indoor Football League is a professional developmental indoor football league designed to deliver fast-paced action-packed football to markets where it can be enjoyed by fans that would otherwise not have a professional indoor football team. We are a fan-friendly league, committed to making the fan experience second to none. Our first season was played under the "Great Lakes Indoor Football League" moniker, and it was a resounding success, with over 75,000 fans watching GLIFL games in 2006. The Port Huron Pirates won Great Lakes Bowl I 40-34 over the Rochester Raiders, marking the third straight exciting game the two teams played. The CIFL will retain the exciting hard-hitting football that made it special in 2006, with the 7-on-7 rules returning. The CIFL is a league dedicated to bringing professional indoor football to markets that would otherwise not have a professional team to cheer for. Such dedication brought fans the first professional football team in Marion, Ohio, since the 1920s, as well as the first-ever professional football team to Port Huron, Michigan (and the first professional football championship). That dedication continues with our expansion teams, ranging from Michigan to Maryland to Massachusetts. Currently 12 teams are preparing for the 2007 CIFL season, where each team will play six home and six away games. The 2007 season will kick off March 17, 2007, as the Port Huron Pirates begin their title defense at the Rochester Raiders, in a rematch of Great Lakes Bowl I. The CIFL has created a unique style of indoor football. The 7-on-7 concept was designed to allow our fans to experience the wide open feeling of 50-yard indoor football while seeing defenses have the opportunity to make plays. The 7-on-7 concept has been a success with our fans, contributing to the expansion of the league for the 2007 season and beyond. The average GLIFL game scored 81.5 points combined in 2006, showing that despite improved defensive rules, teams still have the opportunity to score on every play. Whether on offense or defense. Every team scored at least two defensive touchdowns in 2006, showing that defense is in vogue, even indoors. The IFL From The IFL Website: IFL- The 2004 Intense Football League season was the very first season of the Intense Football League. The Amarillo Dusters went 13-3 in the regular season to make the playoffs with Lubbock Lonestars, Odessa Roughnecks and San Angelo Stampede who finished at 9-7.The Corpus Christi Hammerheads went 8-8 and the El Paso Rumble finished 0-16 and missed the playoffs. Round one of the playoffs had Amarillo defeating San Angelo 41-29, and Lubbock beating Odessa 61-54. The league champions were the Amarillo Dusters, who defeated the Lubbock Lone Stars in Intense Bowl I, 62-47. The 2006 Intense Football League season was the second season of the Intense Football League, since the league temporarily suspended operations in 2005. The Odessa Roughnecks lead the way in the regular season with a 12-2 record. They were joined in the playoffs by the Corpus Christi Hammerheads 9-5, the Louisiana Swashbucklers and the CenTex Barracudas who both finished at 8-6. Missing out on the playoffs were the San Angelo Stampede Express 3-11 and the Laredo Lobos 2-12. Odessa got past Louisiana 53-50, while Corpus won over CenTex 66-49. The league champions were the Odessa Roughnecks, who defeated the Corpus Christi Hammerheads in Intense Bowl II by a score of 97-56. The 2007 Intense Football League season was the third season of the Intense Football League.Louisiana Swashbucklers finished the season 13-1 with the Corpus Christi Hammerheads close behind at 12-2. The Frisco Thunder and the Odessa Roughnecks met them in the playoffs with 8-6 records. Missing the playoffs in 2007 were the Katy Ruff Riders 7-7, San Angelo Stampede 4-10, CenTex Barracudas 2-12 and the Alaska Wild 2-12. Round one found a rematch of the round 1 of 2006 playoffs but Louisiana defeated Odessa 43-40 in this one. Corpus outlasted Frisco 55-41 to make it to the Championship game. The league champions were the Louisiana Swashbucklers, who defeated the Corpus Christi Hammerheads in Intense Bowl III 46-27. 2008 Has all the teams from 07' with expansion in Fairbanks,AK. The UIF From The UIF Website: United Indoor Football took to the turf in 2005 with 11 franchises that had united to provide incredible indoor football action. The teams provided high quality talent on the playing field with monster hits, unbelievable touchdown passes and in-your-face football that kept fans on the edges of their seats. Besides the non-stop action, fans enjoyed heart-pounding music, dancers, mascots, interactive promotions, tailgates and post-game parties. Fans found the same to be true in 2006 and will find all the facets of the game they’ve come to know and love are alive and well for 2007. The UIF makes for great family-affordable entertainment. United Bowl I gave fans what they’d come to expect throughout the first season—a great game. Fans packed the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, IA on August 14, 2005 for the championship game. Sioux Falls defeated Sioux City . Adam Hicks’ 35-yeard field goal at the end of the game gave Sioux Falls a 40-38 victory and the league’s first crown. Hicks received national recognition in Sports Illustrated for that feat. The Bloomington Extreme became the league’s first expansion team. They took to the field for the 2006 season in a new facility. U.S. Cellular Coliseum boasts a state of the art facility that seats close to 7,000 for football with amenities like 24 luxury boxes, club seating, lounges and a restaurant that overlooks the field. More than 6,000 went through the turnstiles for the Extreme home opener. Fans and players enjoyed the experience. As Randy Kindred of pantagraph.com wrote: Defensive lineman Chris Hummel called it “indescribable,” and then—well, described it. “An unbelievable feeling,” the former Illinois Wesleyan star said. The 2006 season was culminated by the perfect storm. The Sioux Falls Storm went 17-0 on their way to back-to-back championships. United Bowl II was played at the Sioux Falls Arena July 29, 2006. The Storm prevailed over the Lexington Horsemen 72-64 before a capacity crowd at the “Storm Shelter.” The game was a see-saw affair. The first quarter alone accounted for six touchdowns from six different players. While the game was broadcast on both team’s flagship radio stations, it was also televised locally and on the league’s website, www.unitedindoorfootball.com. The high caliber of play has allowed several UIF players to make their way up the professional football ladder. More than a dozen have spent time in the Arena Football League while others have gone on to the Canadian Football League, NFL Europa and the top of the game—the National Football League. Besides rewarding performance on the field, the league began recognizing contributions off the field in 2006 with it’s Man of the Year Award. Each team nominated a player they felt exemplified sportsmanship and community service for their respective teams. Lexington’s Anthony “Champ” Kelly and Sioux Falls ’ John Semchenko were both chosen for the honor. As the league grows through expansion and attendance, so does its service to the community. In 2007, that service will be tallied through the new UIF Extra Points Program. An “Extra Point” will be awarded to a team for each hour of community involvement. The team with the most hours will receive a donation in their name to the charity of their choice from the league. © Copyright 2008 Indoor Football Fan, All rights reserved.
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