The West Virginia Wild were a proposed professional indoor football team based in Huntington, West Virginia. The team was slated to become a member of the Continental Indoor Football League as an expansion team in 2009. The Wild were the third attempt at indoor football in Huntington, the second being the American Indoor Football League member, the Huntington Heroes from 2006 to 2008, and the first being the River Cities LocoMotives of the National Indoor Football League in 2001. They were suspended from the CIFL indefinitely for failing to turn in key items before the deadline. The owner of the Wild was Dan Hicks. The team was to play its home games at the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse.

West Virginia Wild
Established 2009
Folded 2009
Played in Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse in Huntington, West Virginia
League/conference affiliations
Continental Indoor Football League (2009)
Current uniform
Team colorsOrange, black, white
     
Personnel
Owner(s)West Virginia Wild, LLC
PresidentDan Hicks
General managerRick Bryant, David Egnor
Head coachMichael Owens
Team history
  • West Virginia Wild (2009)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)

Franchise history

edit

On January 16, 2009, the Wild were announced as an expansion team for the 2009 Continental Indoor Football League season by interim-general manager, Chad Jarrett.[1][2] During the press release, the team announced that they would be playing a 12-game schedule and would be playing their home games at Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse.[1] Later that same day, the Wild announced that, former Marshall University standout, Michael Owens would be the team's coach.[3] The team offered assurance that they were going to not go through the same struggles that past teams in the area had,[4] but that was not the case as the team was suspended from the CIFL on February 20, 2009 for failing to present proof of liability insurance and workers compensation, not having a payment of the arena's mandatory deposit and finalizing the lease, not securing a field system and equipment and not making a payment of an outstanding balance to the league.[5][6]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "WV Wild to Play in CIFL in 2009". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. January 16, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  2. ^ "Huntington goes Wild with return of indoor football". The Herald-Dispatch. January 18, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  3. ^ "WV Wild Name Michael Owens". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. January 16, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  4. ^ David Walsh (February 3, 2009). "Wild out to prove they can make it". The Herald-Dispatch. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  5. ^ "Wild suspended from the CIFL". The Herald-Dispatch. February 21, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  6. ^ "Wild indefinitely suspended from CIFL". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 20, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
edit