NIAGARA FALLS — Looks like Niagara Falls football fans won’t have to wait until the high school football season starts to get their local gridiron fix any longer.
According to numerous reports, Niagara Falls will be the site of an expansion team in the United States Football League, a semi-pro league that currently has teams in Lockport, Buffalo and Lackawanna.
Although repeated calls to USFA commissioner Danial Marshall went unreturned Monday, the league’s Web site lists Niagara Falls as an expansion team for the upcoming season, which is slated to begin play in early June. The team’s name will be the Pirates, according to the site.
Lockport Rage player/coach Will Stiles said on Monday that he helped facilitate a meeting with the USFA’s organizers and said his father, former Lockport coach Carl Stiles, is slated to be on the coaching staff for the fledgling Niagara Falls team.
According to the league’s Web site, five teams are slated to join the league — Niagara Falls, Uniontown (Pa.), Pittsburgh, Flint (Mich.), and Rochester’s Monroe County.
The league, which was 34 members strong last season, was formed in 2005 and has active teams in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan. However, local teams will likely entertain a close schedule — meaning Buffalo, Lackawanna, Lockport, Niagara Falls and Monroe County will all play each other twice. The local teams would then mesh with teams from other areas in the postseason. Coincidentally, Lackawanna won the league title last season.
Will Stiles said a rivalry between Niagara Falls and Lockport could instantly grow and he expects the league to announce that the two teams will face each other to open this season’s schedule.
“The rivalry will be huge,” Stiles said. “With Niagara Falls and Lockport being so close together, I’m sure this will be one of those games everybody’s excited for. Plus, it’s good for us because it cuts down on our travel costs.”
Stiles said he’s heard the team will play Nicoletti Field, which is the current home of the Niagara Falls Cataract teams.
Sports
March 15, 2010
FOOTBALL: Falls to get semi-pro team
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