Season about to begin for new arena football team, Tri-Cities Fire
The Tri-Cities Fire of the American West Football Conference has been practicing and preparing for its season opener in the first-year indoor football league.
The Fire, which had a recent kick-off party or its fans, opens March 23, at the Reno Express.
The team’s home opener is set for March 30 against the Idaho Horsemen in the Toyota Center.
Last month, the AWFC lost one of its teams, the Sacramento Spartans, dropping the number of teams down to four.
The Fire is schedule to play their other three teams in the league four times each.
Besides Reno and Idaho, the fourth team is the Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks.
Outdoor semi-pro football
The Tri-Cities Rage outdoor semi-pro football team opens its season in the six-team Northern Cascades Football League on April 20 with a game against the Arlington Grizzlies at Lampson Stadium.
The Rage will play a 10-game regular season schedule, a home-and-home series against each of the other teams, that will end June 29.
All home games are scheduled for Lampson Stadium.
Soccer
The Tri-Cities Alliance FC begins its second season in the Evergreen Premier League on May 4, when it travels to play the Yakima United.
The Alliance’s home opener is set for May 11 against the Spokane Shadow.
The EPL added a 10th team this season. The league consists of teams in 10 different cities in the state of Washington.
Cornhole spring fling
The Tri-Cities Cornhole Association will be holding a Spring Fling 2019 tournament at Bookwalter Winery in Richland on April 27.
Who doesn’t like to play cornhole?
The tournament that day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. will consist of two-person teams, and players must be 18 or older. Registration, which begins at 11 a.m., on the day of the tournament, costs $100 per team. There will be $2,500 is cash payouts, plus door prizes.
This will be the first of many big tournaments this year in the Tri-Cities.
Horse racing
Nancy Sorick, who runs the Tri-Cities Horse Racing Association, has confirmed that her organization has signed another three-year lease of Sun Downs Race Track with Benton County.
That means horse racing is on again this year at Sun Downs.
The meet will run three consecutive weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) starting April 27.
That will include the Kentucky Derby wagering on May 4.
This story was originally published March 18, 2019 at 7:25 PM.