Post by Banana Cat on Nov 24, 2011 0:04:07 GMT -5
pvtrib.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=55151&TM=43243.35
AZ Outlaws to invade Prescott Valley as new indoor pro football team
11/23/2011
Carie Schultz, left, and Terry Foster, local co-owners with CNT Football, LLC, of the Arizona Outlaws professional Indoor football team, take a break from watching Sundogs hockey in their newly decorated box at Tim’s Toyota Center.
Trib Photo/Cheryl Hartz
John Schultz was an avid football fan and a Yavapai Sheriff's Office detention officer. He died in a two-vehicle head-on collision on Highway 169 during a heavy rainstorm in August 2010, along with fellow officers Brian Callaghan of Prescott Valley and Jose Presas of Dewey. The officers were headed for their shift at the Yavapai County Jail in Camp Verde.
What better way to honor the memory of the fallen detention officers and simultaneously give back to the Prescott Valley community than to start a football team?, reasoned Schultz's widow, Carie.
The Arizona Outlaws professional indoor football team is the result. Team colors of black and yellow reflect John's favorite NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Presas was a Dallas Cowboys' fan.)
"It's two-fold for me, really," Carie Schultz said. "The community rallied around me and it's a nice way to give back to the community that gave so much to me."
Undeterred by the two-time failure in two separate leagues of the Arizona Adrenaline as Prescott Valley's indoor football team, Schultz, Terry Foster and two major backers put together CNT Football, LLC group. Tony Stewart (not the NASCAR racer) of West Palm Beach, Fla., is the president of operations. The fourth owner runs Quebec TLI Global, lives in Canada and also works with hockey and rugby teams, Foster said. Foster asked to withhold the gentleman's name, pending approval.
Foster said the team employs a Memphis-based public relations firm, and is searching for a general manager, in addition to local corporate sponsors.
"This is a great area for indoor football with the proper ownership group," Foster said. "We'll give our community something to be proud of."
Michigan native Foster was recruited in April to finish out the season as Adrenaline head coach.
"The second day I was here it snowed. That shocked me a little bit. It doesn't snow in Arizona!" he said.
His extensive football background includes playing and coaching, most recently with the AFL's now defunct Grand Rapids Rampage.
"The franchise didn't like the AFL's new model and ceased operations," he said.
He had several offers to take the Outlaw football franchise elsewhere, he said, but opted to keep it here.
"Two reasons really: to honor Carie and her husband, and the community deserves to have entertainment and a minor league football team they can be proud of," Foster said.
He said the name Outlaws actually came from a local fan, pulled from an end-of-season suggestion box.
The Outlaws join the re-configured 11-team American Indoor Football league (formerly the AIFA) in the 5-team West division.
In addition to a new league, Foster, the team's head coach as well as co-owner, said the Outlaws have "a totally new ownership group, a new attitude and a new name."
A major difference is CNT has prepaid for the Outlaws' season at Tim's Toyota Center, confirmed Gary Spiker, TTC's general manager.
The Adrenaline failed not through lack of interest or fans, but because of mismanagement and financial difficulties.
"The Outlaws organization has a good group of people and this should be a great thing for the community," Spiker said.
"We want to join the Sundogs as a permanent resident and provide a sense of security at Tim's," Foster said. "By pre-paying and negotiating more deals with the arena, we want to become a pillar of what Tim's does as far as entertainment."
The AIF is a national league based on regional play within two divisions. In 2012 the AIF East includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and North Carolina. The West encompasses California, Arizona and Nevada. The championship game between the eastern and western conference champions will take place June 16 at the eastern conference champion's venue.
The Outlaws play 12 regular season games - six at home - and Foster already talks about hosting two additional playoff games.
"We'll have 25 on the roster and dress 18 to 21 for each contest," he said.
Foster said 14 players have signed for pre-season camp and he needs 20 more.
"I'm definitely looking for local talent," he said.
He will conduct an open tryout on Saturday, Dec. 10. He asks potential players to call him at 616-516-8688 for details of time and place.
The season begins with a home game March 1 versus the Sacramento Night Hawks, he said.
Nikki Joy is the Outlaws' non-profit coordinator. Joy, a former soccer player, was persuaded to become the Adrenaline's kicker - the only female in the league - to finish out their 2011 season.
Schultz said before Joy became the kicker, the two friends attended indoor games together.
"I went as something to do, to get me out of the house," Schultz said.
Now the two will work together to benefit local non-profit organizations. Schultz mentioned Big Brothers Big Sisters, teenage and childhood obesity prevention, and mini-football camps, for a start.
"We're hoping to be a positive in the community," she said. "We have a lot of ideas."
Foster agreed.
"We're a family-oriented group, not like the average business. We sit around a campfire and talk."
11/23/2011
Carie Schultz, left, and Terry Foster, local co-owners with CNT Football, LLC, of the Arizona Outlaws professional Indoor football team, take a break from watching Sundogs hockey in their newly decorated box at Tim’s Toyota Center.
Trib Photo/Cheryl Hartz
John Schultz was an avid football fan and a Yavapai Sheriff's Office detention officer. He died in a two-vehicle head-on collision on Highway 169 during a heavy rainstorm in August 2010, along with fellow officers Brian Callaghan of Prescott Valley and Jose Presas of Dewey. The officers were headed for their shift at the Yavapai County Jail in Camp Verde.
What better way to honor the memory of the fallen detention officers and simultaneously give back to the Prescott Valley community than to start a football team?, reasoned Schultz's widow, Carie.
The Arizona Outlaws professional indoor football team is the result. Team colors of black and yellow reflect John's favorite NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Presas was a Dallas Cowboys' fan.)
"It's two-fold for me, really," Carie Schultz said. "The community rallied around me and it's a nice way to give back to the community that gave so much to me."
Undeterred by the two-time failure in two separate leagues of the Arizona Adrenaline as Prescott Valley's indoor football team, Schultz, Terry Foster and two major backers put together CNT Football, LLC group. Tony Stewart (not the NASCAR racer) of West Palm Beach, Fla., is the president of operations. The fourth owner runs Quebec TLI Global, lives in Canada and also works with hockey and rugby teams, Foster said. Foster asked to withhold the gentleman's name, pending approval.
Foster said the team employs a Memphis-based public relations firm, and is searching for a general manager, in addition to local corporate sponsors.
"This is a great area for indoor football with the proper ownership group," Foster said. "We'll give our community something to be proud of."
Michigan native Foster was recruited in April to finish out the season as Adrenaline head coach.
"The second day I was here it snowed. That shocked me a little bit. It doesn't snow in Arizona!" he said.
His extensive football background includes playing and coaching, most recently with the AFL's now defunct Grand Rapids Rampage.
"The franchise didn't like the AFL's new model and ceased operations," he said.
He had several offers to take the Outlaw football franchise elsewhere, he said, but opted to keep it here.
"Two reasons really: to honor Carie and her husband, and the community deserves to have entertainment and a minor league football team they can be proud of," Foster said.
He said the name Outlaws actually came from a local fan, pulled from an end-of-season suggestion box.
The Outlaws join the re-configured 11-team American Indoor Football league (formerly the AIFA) in the 5-team West division.
In addition to a new league, Foster, the team's head coach as well as co-owner, said the Outlaws have "a totally new ownership group, a new attitude and a new name."
A major difference is CNT has prepaid for the Outlaws' season at Tim's Toyota Center, confirmed Gary Spiker, TTC's general manager.
The Adrenaline failed not through lack of interest or fans, but because of mismanagement and financial difficulties.
"The Outlaws organization has a good group of people and this should be a great thing for the community," Spiker said.
"We want to join the Sundogs as a permanent resident and provide a sense of security at Tim's," Foster said. "By pre-paying and negotiating more deals with the arena, we want to become a pillar of what Tim's does as far as entertainment."
The AIF is a national league based on regional play within two divisions. In 2012 the AIF East includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and North Carolina. The West encompasses California, Arizona and Nevada. The championship game between the eastern and western conference champions will take place June 16 at the eastern conference champion's venue.
The Outlaws play 12 regular season games - six at home - and Foster already talks about hosting two additional playoff games.
"We'll have 25 on the roster and dress 18 to 21 for each contest," he said.
Foster said 14 players have signed for pre-season camp and he needs 20 more.
"I'm definitely looking for local talent," he said.
He will conduct an open tryout on Saturday, Dec. 10. He asks potential players to call him at 616-516-8688 for details of time and place.
The season begins with a home game March 1 versus the Sacramento Night Hawks, he said.
Nikki Joy is the Outlaws' non-profit coordinator. Joy, a former soccer player, was persuaded to become the Adrenaline's kicker - the only female in the league - to finish out their 2011 season.
Schultz said before Joy became the kicker, the two friends attended indoor games together.
"I went as something to do, to get me out of the house," Schultz said.
Now the two will work together to benefit local non-profit organizations. Schultz mentioned Big Brothers Big Sisters, teenage and childhood obesity prevention, and mini-football camps, for a start.
"We're hoping to be a positive in the community," she said. "We have a lot of ideas."
Foster agreed.
"We're a family-oriented group, not like the average business. We sit around a campfire and talk."