A new form of football is quietly taking shape in a corner of Gentry County. The Midwest Lightning minor league/semi-pro football team has made McFall its base of operations as it prepares for competition in the Great Plains Football League.
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A new form of football is quietly taking shape in a corner of Gentry County. The Midwest Lightning minor league/semi-pro football team has made McFall its base of operations as it prepares for competition in the Great Plains Football League. The team has scheduled 8 home games for the McFall ball field, which last week began undergoing the physical change from a baseball field to a football field.
Caught (in photo) during a break from preparing the field were: (kneeling) Robert Nichols, Midwest Lightning coach, and Shawn Farmer, wide receiver out of Parks Junior College; (standing) Marshall Slate, linebacker/fullback out of the University of Colorado-Bolder, and John Byrd, quarterback/defensive back from the University of Wyoming.
The Midwest Lightning, whose colors are white, navy blue and gold, will open its season at home on July 10 against Springfield. The team was formed by Nichols in a merger with a semi-pro team in Colorado the Colorado Lightning. Grant City native Robert Stratton serves as the new team’s defensive coordinator.
Over 350 football teams in the United States are classified as semi-pro or minor league. Players come from high school and college football programs. Some get paid, but most do not. A few have participated in NFL camps and may get the opportunity to play arena football or other paid leagues. Midwest Lightning, says Coach Nichols, will in time become a developmental team for the professional arena, possibly the Indoor Football League.
In addition to playing in the Great Plains Football League, Midwest Lightning will participate under the sanction of the American Football Association, a non-profit corporation dedicated to the advancement promotion of semi-pro/minor league football teams and leagues in the United States. The AFA publishes a manual to aid team administrators in day-to-day operations, has its own players’ association, holds an annual east-west all-star game and maintains a minor league football hall of fame. The AFA also maintains a well-designed Internet site that includes a message board where players can advertise their availability and teams can announce tryout dates along with other news.
The Kalamazoo Tornadoes, members of the Mid-Eastern Football League, were 1998 AFA National Champions.
Midwest Lightning is looking for team support in the form of fans and sponsorships and donations for equipment and uniforms. Game tickets are $5 for adults, $3 age 18 and under and under 5 free. Family passes are $35 per game.
Midwest Lightning practices are held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The public is invited to attend these sessions.