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Appalachian League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
June 30, 2014 - Appalachian League (ApL)


BASEBALL

Florida State League: The proposed new ballpark at Rollins College in Winter Park (FL) to be built for the relocated Brevard County Manatees of the high Class-A FSL has hit a delay. Residents in Winter Park have voiced concerns over financing the new ballpark and a vote on the funding plan has been delayed.

Appalachian League (APPY): The advanced short-season rookie level APPY recently started its 2014 season with one team name change. The Bristol (VA) White Sox, an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox in the league since the 1995 season, switched to an affiliation with Pittsburgh Pirates in the off-season and the team was renamed the Bristol Pirates.

BASKETBALL

Tobacco Road Basketball League: The TRBL, which is currently completing its third season, announced it will start its next season in November 2014 and allow teams to schedule games against TRBL-sanctioned opponents from November 1, 2014 through April 2015. In its first two seasons of 2012 and 2013 the TRBL season ran from early April to early June, while the 2014 season ran from mid-January to mid-June.

American Basketball Association: The ABA announced a new Minneapolis-based team called the Minnesota Rattlers will be part of the 2014-15 season. The Austin-based team originally announced as the TX P5 Elite is now listed as the Austin Boom.

Women's United States Basketball Association: The proposed WUSBA, which has been trying to get off the ground with a summertime season since 2010, recently cancelled an attempt to play a 2014 season. The league will now take four teams called the Great Plains Legends, Grand Canyon Platinum, Golden Gate Classic and Great Lakes Surf on a European tour in September and October 2014. The league web site states an inaugural season will start in November 2016 with 32 teams.

FOOTBALL

Canadian Football League: The CFL started its 2014 season this past week and increased to nine teams with a four-team East Division and a five-team West Division. The expansion Ottawa REDBLACKS team was placed in the East Division and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were moved to the West Division. Winnipeg had been part of the West Division before, but was moved to the East Division for the 2006 season when Ottawa's previous CFL team, the Ottawa Renegades, folded after four seasons (2002-05) and the league was reduced to eight teams. The league hopes to eventually add a fifth East Division team located in the Atlantic Canada provinces. The cities of Moncton (New Brunswick) and Halifax (Nova Scotia) have been considered for expansion, but either of these locations would need a stadium and ownership group that are suitable to the league.

Global Indoor Football League: The proposed GIFL, which planned to play indoor seven-on-seven three-down football with teams based in Canada, recently stated the league has ceased operations. Originally announced as the National Canadian Arena Football League with plans to start play in 2014, the league's first full season was pushed back to the spring of 2015 with some tournament games planned for 2014. Four Ontario-based teams called the Guelph Gangsters, Mississauga Meltdown, Oshawa Onslaught and Windsor Waves were announced in January 2014. The league held some tryouts, but could not generate enough interest to move forward.

American Football League: The proposed new AFL plans to start its inaugural season in the fall of 2016 with 20 teams across the United States. The AFL was trying to start back in 2011, but shut down due to the loss of a television contract. The league started up again in late 2013 and announced plans to begin play in 2015, but those plans have been pushed back.

HOCKEY

ECHL: The 21-team ECHL announced a revamped conference and divisional alignment for the 2014-15 season. The Eastern Conference loses its Atlantic Division and will have a five-team North Division and a five-team South Division. The Western Conference will feature a six-team Pacific Division and a five-team Midwest Division, which was the Mountain Division last season. The league started the 2013-14 season with 22 teams, but the San Francisco Bulls folded during the season and the Las Vegas Wranglers were forced to sit out the 2014-15 season due to the lack of a home arena. The league added the Indianapolis Fuel, or Indy Fuel, as an expansion team for 2014-15.

Southern Professional Hockey League: The SPHL announced the Augusta (GA) RiverHawks franchise, which was forced to sit out the 2013-14 season due to the lack of a functioning ice system at its home arena, will move to Macon (GA) and return as the Macon Mayhem for the 2015-16 season. The league announced it will have eight teams for the upcoming 2014-15 season. The league had ten teams last season, but the Bloomington (IL) Thunder and Mississippi Surge (Biloxi) dropped out after the season. Macon has had previous minor hockey teams called the Macon Whoopee (1996-2001Central Hockey League & 2001-02 ECHL) and Macon Trax (2002-03 Atlantic Coast Hockey League, 2003-04 World Hockey Association-2 & 2004-05 SPHL).

Minnesota Junior Hockey League: USA Hockey's Tier-III MnJHL added a new team called the Ironwood (MI) Fighting Yoopers to grow the league to 17 teams for the 2014-15 season. The league also had three teams relocate with name changes-the Wisconsin Rampage (Pleasant Prairie) became the Crystal Lake (IL) Rampage, the Edina (MN) Lakers became the Forest Lake (MN) Lakers and the Central Wisconsin Saints (Stevens Point) became the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings.

Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH has started its 2014 Super League schedule that includes five teams called the Chicago Carnage, D.C. Filibusters, Ohio River Monsters (Columbus/Cincinnati), Philadelphia Demons and Pittsburgh Steel.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: The MLS is denying speculation that former MLS star David Beckham could abandon plans for a proposed Miami-based franchise and become involved with the league's Chivas USA franchise, which is currently owned by the league. The Miami effort recently lost out on two proposed stadium sites. The MLS is looking for new ownership to take over the Chivas USA, rebrand the franchise and move it away from the stadium it shares with the league's Los Angeles Galaxy in Carson (CA).

United Soccer Leagues - Premier Development League: The Chicago Inferno of the PDL has discontinued operations and the team has been removed from the Heartland Division schedule for the rest of the season. The Inferno joined the league for the 2012 season and had played five games of the 2014 schedule prior to folding.

OTHER

United States Lacrosse League: The proposed professional indoor USLL, which originally announced plans in 2013 to start its inaugural season in the fall of 2014, has struggled to get off the ground. One of the league's board members recently stepped down and the league has announced only two teams-the New Jersey Jackals and Maine Moose Trax (Portland).

Continental Indoor Lacrosse League: The semi-pro CILL announced it will play its fourth season in 2014 with nine teams. The seven teams called the Chicago Outlaws, Colorado Sabertooths, Columbus Brew, Detroit Coney Dogs, Grand Rapids Dragonfish, Milwaukee Marauders and Pittsburgh Octane all return from last season, plus the league has added the Cleveland Demons and Lansing Hot Rods. The Demons return after playing the 2012 season and sitting out last season. A team called the Lansing Lancers, which was not a full league member, played some games against CILL teams in 2013. The CILL operated as the Midwest Indoor Lacrosse Association for its first two seasons of 2011 and 2012. The CILL's seven-week season will run from August 2 to September 14, 2014.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the "The Leagueology Almanac 2012-13", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The publication is currently available at www.amazon.com.

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