Home › News › Local News
Indoor football coming to Abilene
Please download the latest version of Adobe Flash Player, or enable JavaScript for your browser to view the video player.
More Local News Abilene is officially home to a franchise in the Indoor Football League.
The Abilene Ruff Riders, who are relocating from Katy, will play a 14-game schedule starting in March with home games played at Taylor County Coliseum.
Team and league officials were in Abilene on Tuesday to make the announcement.
The Ruff Riders are owned by Allegiance Pro Sports, an Odessa-based firm which will also operate the IFL's Odessa and El Paso franchises. Team president Brandon Smith said the Abilene franchise will be almost totally made over.
"Other than the ownership, we're starting over with a new (front office) staff," he said following Tuesday's news conference. "Hopefully, we'll be able to hire a lot of those people here from within the Abilene community and get some local support going. We will be hiring a new coach in the next few weeks and hope to announce that real soon, but we've got all our equipment, turf and everything that we'll just bring over from Katy."
The Indoor Football League will play its inaugural season starting in March. The league was formed over the summer by the merger of the Intense Football League and the United Indoor Football League, The new league includes 18 teams held over from the merged leagues and IFL officials expect to have more than 20 franchises by the time the season starts.
"In terms of the league, these guys are not local sandlot football players," IFL commissioner Tommy Benizio said. "These guys are professionals who are seeking NFL careers.
Posted by bulldog2 on October 14, 2008 at 4:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm ready for some Football!!!
Posted by Texan55 on October 14, 2008 at 4:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Cool beans.
Posted by junebug on October 14, 2008 at 5:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Cool!
Posted by Ranchero on October 14, 2008 at 6:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So!
Posted by sirgrumpy1 on October 14, 2008 at 6:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How cool is this....arena football is one of the coolest family activities you can have.....
Posted by Shootstir on October 14, 2008 at 8:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
(YAWN!)
Posted by huckster on October 14, 2008 at 8:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
good for abilene!!!
Posted by WstTxLady on October 14, 2008 at 10:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey there could be worse things to gripe about. Football should be pretty d*mn good.
Posted by campbellve on October 14, 2008 at 11:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is great to have a pro/am sports team again, AND the fact BEER (although mostly likely cheap domestic) is going to be sold. If there are season tickets im getting some.
Posted by corky7tx on October 15, 2008 at 8:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.katyruffriders.com/
Posted by cottonball107 on October 15, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
corky.. Cheap beer wont happen.. Very expensive domestic beer will happen.. But anyway, lets play some indoor football !!!!!
Posted by unsub on October 15, 2008 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A good start for the return of pro sports to Abilene!
Posted by campbellve on October 15, 2008 at 11:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
cottonball-
i was referring to the cheapness of the product not the actual cost.
Posted by ropers40 on October 15, 2008 at 11:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
finally something to do that I will enjoy.
Posted by come_and_take_it on October 15, 2008 at 9:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe indoor football will make it on the best of abilene list for family entertainment.
www.bestofabilene.blogspot.com
Ran into this earlier today. I think these guys are up to something cool.
(Requires free registration.)
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.