Indoor football makes a Tri-Cities comeback

The Tri-Cities Fire introduced itself to the community on Thursday, letting everyone know that indoor football will be back at the Toyota Center in 2019.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said an enthusiastic Kinshasa Martin, the team’s owner, who sat in front of the media next to Warren Reynolds — the Fire’s general manager and head coach. “It’s a void that needed to be filled here.”

The last indoor football team in this region was the Tri-Cities Fever. That team played in the Toyota Center from 2005 through 2016 — the last six seasons in the Indoor Football League.

Owners Teri and JR Carr opted to make the franchise inactive, but in good standing, in case they wanted to start the team up again. Teri Carr, also the Fever’s general manager, decided against that.

“The Carrs left a great legacy behind,” said Martin, who was referring to paying all their bills after the franchise shut down, and the great relationships they had with the fans and businesses.

Martin has said because of that, the local business community and Fever fans have greeted him warmly.

American West Football Conference

The Fire is one of five franchises expected to play in the American West Football Conference, a new indoor league that was started by Chris Reynolds in Idaho.

It was Chris Reynolds, who owns the Idaho Horsemen, based out of Nampa, who had been studying indoor football the past two years.

He had zeroed in on the Indoor Football League — which the old Fever franchise was a member of for years — and the Champions Indoor Football League, deciding on which league to have his franchise join.

But Martin said Reynolds decided there might be a stronger business plan to start his own league that involves less expensive travel with teams on the West Coast.

So he formed the AWFC in October, then invited friends and business associates to join and pay for franchises. The league has its own website, americanwestfootballconference.com.

This inaugural season includes five teams: Fire, Idaho Horsemen, Reno Express, Sacramento Spartans and Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks.

The Fire’s first game is March 23, at the Reno Express. The team’s home opener will be March 30 against those same Spartans. The Fire will have a 12-game schedule — six home games and six road games.

Keeping it affordable

Martin, who is a retired Army recruiter and served in the Iraq war, lives in Everett with his wife and children. But he said he had seen the Fever play.

“I came here and watched the Fever play and I enjoyed it,” Martin said. “We want to keep the costs low for the Fire. I understand that. I have a family.”

To that end, the franchise — through the team’s website, have been selling what it calls Inferno memberships for two months.

For $250, he’s selling two season tickets for the 2019 and two for the 2020 season. You’ll get to pick your seat, too.

“But,” Martin added, “we’ll stop selling those Inferno memberships on Monday morning when they start selling season tickets.

Martin has signed a two-year lease with the Toyota Center, and has plans to buy the field and dashboards from the Carrs.

With cheaper tickets, and cost-cutting measures such as limited travel (and by bus only) and using local players (not paying for player housing), Martin and the AWFC believe they have the right formula to make things work.

Team building

To this point, the team has announced five players who have signed letters of intent to play for the Fire.

That includes three local athletes in linebacker Kris Welch, who played at River View and then Eastern Oregon University; free safety/kicker returner Tyler Merkel, who played at Kamiakin; and tight end/defensive end BK Robinson, who played at Richland High.

“We’ll have 30 to 40 players when practice starts,” said Warren Reynolds. “We have a lot of former Fever and (semi-pro Tri-Cities) Rage players coming to camp. Some former Spokane Empire players also should be coming to camp.”

Warren Reynolds said its about giving young guys a chance to still play football.

“In Washington, you don’t have a junior college program,” he said. “We’re looking at those guys who played Division I football but we’re not good enough to get a chance at the next level. We want to give these kids a second chance.”

Tryout camp

The Fire will host a third and final tryout camp this Saturday in the Toyota Center. Doors open at 10 a.m., and testing begins at 11 a.m. Players interested in trying out can register on www.gofirefootball.com, and it will cost $40.

Training camp for the team should start around the second week of February. That may sound early, since the team’s first game is March 23.

The IFL only allows teams to open camp 10 to 14 days before their opening game. But Martin says because the AWFC is in its first year, teams need more preparation time.

This story was originally published January 31, 2019 at 6:45 PM.