ArenaBowl XXV Matchup Is Set

After a 75-69 victory over the Utah Blaze in the National Conference championship game, the Arizona Rattlers (13-5) are headed to New Orleans for a meeting with the Philadelphia Soul (15-3) in AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV.
One of the League’s most storied franchises, the Rattlers are primed for their second consecutive ArenaBowl appearance and seventh championship game in franchise history. After winning the West Division for the second consecutive season, Head Coach KEVIN GUY aims to bring the Foster Trophy back to the Valley for the first time since 1997.
The Soul were crowned ArenaBowl champions the last time New Orleans hosted an ArenaBowl. Four years later, the Big Game is back in the “Big Easy” and Head Coach Doug Plank has his sights set on bringing another pro football championship back to Philadelphia. Guided by Offensive Coordinator Clint Dolezel, the Soul offense put up eye-popping numbers in 2012, becoming the first team in AFL history to begin a season with eight straight 60+ point games. In the 2012 postseason, the Soul took down the New Orleans VooDoo (8-10), 66-53, in the opening rounds and scored an AFL postseason-record 89 points against the defending-champion Jacksonville Sharks (10-8) in the American Conference championship game. Their 55-point margin of victory over the Sharks also represents the largest in AFL postseason history.
The Soul and Rattlers will clash for the first time this season in New Orleans on August 10. Kickoff for AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV is set for 10:30 p.m. ET.

Commandos Return Home to CIFL

The CIFL is proud to announce the return of the 2010 & 2011 CIFL  Champion, Cincinnati Commandos.  Led by Head Coach Billy Black and GM Jason Buckley the Commandos will return to the CIFL having put together an impressive 35-3 record in 3 seasons of play.  
"The Cincinnati Commandos organization would like to thank Jim O'Brien and the rest of the CIFL for giving us the opportunity to rejoin the league and compete for another title," said owner Dennis Whitman, "I was personally very impressed with Mr. O'Brien and his outlook on how a successful league should be structured and function as a "team."  I look forward to working with everyone involved in the CIFL and hopefully the Commandos can live up to the standard expected from us by our fans and all of our sponsors."
The Commandos will play their home contests at the Cincinnati Gardens when the season begins in February of 2013.

Wendell Pierce, Sterling Farms, AFL to Hold Food Drive

The Arena Football League will join forces with actor Wendell Pierce to launch the AFL Sterling Farms Fresh Food Drive on Tuesday, August 7th. The newly-launched grocery chain, owned in part by Pierce, will provide bags of fresh produce free to 500 New Orleans area residents in need. The event will take place at the Lapalco Village Shopping Center in Marrero, LA, future home of Sterling Farms, from 4 p.m. CT – 6 p.m. CT . The AFL will be hosting its championship game, AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV on Friday, August 10th at the New Orleans Arena.
Pierce, a New Orleans native who starred in the HBO drama The Wire and plays a leading role in the HBO series Treme, co-founded Sterling Farms grocery stores to directly provide fresh grocery products to residents in underserved New Orleans neighborhoods hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. Sterling Farms will manage three grocery and convenience stores in the New Orleans area in the coming months. The AFL Sterling Farms Fresh Food Drive will take place at the future site of the first Sterling Farms full service grocery store in Marrero.
“This is one of our outreach campaigns to end food deserts,” Pierce said. “We are happy to provide many of families who are in need with some of the fresh produce and grocery items that our company will offer.  The families in these underserved areas will benefit from a company like ours and our mission to provide them the sterling service they deserve.  We are grateful to the AFL for inviting us to be a partner on this very gratifying project.”  Members of both AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV teams will aid Pierce in greeting and assisting residents as they receive the fresh produce and grocery items from Sterling Farms.
“The AFL Sterling Farms Fresh Food Drive is an excellent prelude to AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV,” Adam Robbins, Sr. VP of Marketing and Partnerships for the AFL, said. “Being able to give back to the New Orleans community and contributing to such a meaningful mission with Sterling Farms and Wendell Pierce is an exciting opportunity for the AFL.”
AVITAE Caffeinated Water, RAM Trucks and 711 Bourbon Heat will be sponsoring the event with the AFL and Sterling Farms.

AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV Charity Golf Invitational Is Set

The Arena Football League will host the AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV Charity Golf Invitational at the Stonebridge Golf Club of New Orleans on Thursday, August 9, the League Office announced today.
The four-man scramble will tee off at 8:30 a.m. CT and features select players and coaches competing in AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV, AFL executives, personalities, AFL Hall of Famers, fans and members of the media.
Stonebridge Golf Club is a premier golf course showcasing canals, bayous, reptiles, and other wild life in 27 holes of unique, scenic golf that represents everything about New Orleans. The course is a links-style design with over 100 sand traps and six different sets of tees.
Registration is open to the public and will begin at 7:00 a.m CT. The shotgun start will promptly tee-off at 8:30 a.m. CT and lunch will be served at 12:30 p.m. CT.
Food sponsors include Acme Oyster House, Hooters, City Diner, Nacho Mama’s, Rivershack, Big Boy Tamales, and Ligniappe Sno Balls. Coke and Powerade, Old New Orleans Rum, and Budweiser. Miller-Coors will also provide the beverages at the event.
The AVITAE ArenaBowl XXV Championship game will be played just one day the event on Friday, August 10 at 10:30 p.m. ET.

The LFL Canada Signs First Canadian Broadcaster

Lingerie Football League, LLC. (‘LFL’) officials announce yet another international broadcaster in British Columbia’s CHEK Television. With less than 30 days prior to the kickoff of LFL Canada, league officials agreed to terms to have all (8) LFL, Saturday Night Football regular season games as well as the LFL Canada championship game ‘Lingerie Bowl I’, be broadcast in high-definition Saturday nights at 8:30pm throughout British Columbia.
“Considering LFL Football’s track record in relation to television ratings, rapidly building momentum and interest from our viewers, we feel LFL, Saturday Night Football will find a whole new audience on CHEK”, said, Bill Pollock, Program Manager, CHEK Television.
While CHEK will carry all LFL Canada games, the network’s focus will be in centered its home market LFL Canada franchise, the BC Angels. CHEK will have a presence at Angels home games at Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre as well as track the team’s inaugural season development through player features and team reports.
The LFL is expected to announce another Canadian broadcaster to include carriage across the remaining territories in Canada.
“It’s exciting to build yet another league from ground level to hopefully the success we are enjoying in the US. Securing a television license without having even kicked-off truly speaks to the excitement that surrounds our game and the upcoming inaugural season of LFL Canada”, said, Mitchell Mortaza, Founder & Chairman, Lingerie Football League, LLC.

LFL Australia Brands It's First Franchise As The New South Wales Surge

Last Thursday the LFL Australia history introduced the New South Wales Surge as the first team to receive its name.
The NSW team attended a Fuel TV (LFL’s Australia broadcaster) function where everyone gathered to watch the recent All Fantasy Games between the Western and Eastern conferences. During the evening each team member introduced themselves.
Once the game had finished the squads were called onto the stage as the MC for the night Jimmy White read out a statement from LFL Founder and Commissioner Mitchell Mortaza.
“Unfortunately, we could not join you on this incredible and historic evening as we formally launch our New South Wales team of LFL Australia.
We could not be more proud of the excitement and enthusiasm you ladies have shown already in preparation of the 2013 inaugural season.
Sydney has already proven how much it loves LFL Football, now its time for you to win the love of all of New South Wales!
It is now with great pleasure and honour that we formally announce the name of the team and kickoff a new era in Sport throughout New South Wales…….history will be named tonight as you ladies are the first-ever roster of the……… NEW SOUTH WALES SURGE.
The ‘Surge’ was chosen for the power and determination of the Ocean that each you will possess on the football field”.
The players and supporters were all in agreement that this was a great name and would see the girls using it as a reminder of the relentless drive and force required to over power and dominate the opposing team.
At present there is a squad of 30 girls that will eventually be cut down to a roster of 20 who will go on to play in the 2013/14 season. The girls are currently training together as a squad every Sunday as well as doing their own personal fitness during the week. They plan to increase training to two sessions a week in the near future. These girls are willing to sacrifice for this sport. Just look at Courtney ‘cork’ Tildsley to see how serious they are. She drives a ten hour 460 mile round trip every Sunday to train with her team mates.
One thing is for sure, these girls are committed and determined to be ready. It is not just about wanting to play in the Australian LFL for these girls. They want to win it and own it.
The girls owe a lot of thanks to their two coaches who have been putting in a lot of hours to get them to where they are in such a short period of time. Jason Gaffey is the defence coach while Teren Tan watches over the offensive plays. Both coaches bring their extensive knowledge of the game to the table. Jason has represented Australia in Gridiron as both a player and coach.
I was present on the night of 7th June when the LFL held the trials for the NSW squad. To see how far these girls have come in such a short period of time is simply unbelievable. They have really embraced the LFL and to see the talk between themselves both at training and on social networking sites like facebook and twitter is very encouraging.
The girls all have back grounds in other competitive sports which has seen them all climb to great heights in those fields. It is because of this experience that they are all so committed and passionate about the game and one another. They bring that level of professionalism to LFL which can only be a huge positive.
You can teach the game of Gridiron however you can not teach athleticism and this NSW Surge team has that in abundance. A quick look at a few of the girl’s sporting bios shows just how good they are and what they can offer both the team and game.
Renee ‘the assassin’ Straumietis. Played in three baseball World Cups for Australia as a pitcher and had the fastest pitch in the country at 76 mph. She could be the next Ashley Salerno.
Bonnie ‘lil nug’ Gillespie. Originally from New Zealand she was a fantastic track cyclist who won a gold medal for her country. Has a real cheeky side. Will be a crowd favourite.
Amanda ‘AJ’ Janes. Played competitive basketball for NSW and used to play with Lauren Jackson. Was also in the Sydney Flames squad.
Jess ‘the flash’ Hamilton. Came from a surf lifesaving background where she won 5 national gold medals in beach sprinting.
Shari ‘amazon’ Onley. Out and out athlete who used to be Amazon on the TV show Gladiators. Will be the Liz Gorman of the Australian LFL. One highly motivated and inspirational player who will lead by example both on the field and off.
This is just a small sample of what the NSW Surge team have to offer.

Michael Vick's Team Vick Foundation Donates Soul Tickets to Police Athletic League

The Eastern Division Champion, Philadelphia Soul (16-3) announce that Philadelphia Eagles' QB Michael Vick's Team Vick Foundation has purchased tickets to the Arena Football League American Conference Championship game against the defending champion Jacksonville Sharks (11-8) on Friday, August 3 and donated them to the Police Athletic League of Philadelphia. The game will be broadcast nationally on the NFL Network with kickoff slated for 8 p.m.
"I wish I could be there myself, but I'm working on a Championship of our own for Philadelphia," said Vick. "But, I'm thrilled to be able to bring out the Police Athletic League to enjoy the game. I'll be pulling for the Soul."
"We're excited to bring our kids out to see the Soul's big game", said Sgt Eric Ervin, Commanding Sergeant of the PAL Activities Center. "I would need a thousand tongues to say thank you enough to Mr. Vick for providing this opportunity."