The San Diego Strike Force held a press conference Dec. 17 at the Pechanga Arena San Diego announcing itself as the newest entry to the 10-team Indoor Football League (IFL).
The Strike Force will play a 14-game season in 2019 with seven games at the Pechanga Arena. The San Diego squad will take part in the IFL’s first game of the 2019 season when it faces the Quad City Steamwheelers at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Ill. on Friday, Feb. 22. The team’s first home contest is set for Sunday, March 3 at 5:05 p.m. All IFL games are streamed free on YouTube. Season and single-game tickets for all seven home games are on sale at sdstrikeforce.com. Single-game tickets start at just $15 apiece and a front row seat to a game can be purchased for $40. Parking will be free at Pechanga Arena.
“Today marks the culmination of a lot of hard work by a talented group of people,” said Strike Force team president Greg Anderson. “But this is just the first step. I’m extremely excited to bring the Strike Force and the Indoor Football League to the Pechanga Arena and the great football fans of San Diego. Getting to this point took a lot of hard work and dedication and from here on out, our number-one goal is to deliver a championship-caliber team both on and off the field to San Diego.”
A former NFL and USFL wide receiver and long-time international football coach, Anderson will head up the organization as team president, while former quarterback and long-time certified sports agent Brian Cox will serve as the team’s general manager. Ameer Ismail, a former All-America linebacker at Western Michigan, who went on to spend time in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, will serve as head coach.
The Strike Force has already held two tryouts and signed several players, including three with San Diego ties. That list includes running back Jereke Armstrong (San Pasqual High and University of San Diego), wide receiver Rashad Ridley (San Diego High and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology) and wide receiver Daniel Walsh (Cathedral Catholic High and TCU).
Upcoming auditions also are scheduled for Jan. 5 at Pasadena (Calif.) High School (noon), as well as Jan. 12 in San Diego (location TBD) and Atlanta (location TBD). Additional details about tryouts will be available at sdstrikeforce.com. The team will report to training camp Feb. 4 to begin preparations for its season opener on Feb. 22.
The IFL began play in 2008 and currently features 10 teams in eight states, primarily in the Southwest and upper-Midwest. The Strike Force will compete against the Arizona Rattlers, Bismarck Bucks, Cedar Rapids River Kings, Green Bay Blizzard, reigning IFL champion Iowa Barnstormers, Nebraska Danger, Quad City Steamwheelers, Sioux Falls Storm and the Tucson Sugar Skulls for the United Bowl Championship. Iowa won the League’s United Bowl title in 2018 with a 42-38 victory over Sioux Falls.
“This is a proud day for the entire Indoor Football League family,” said IFL President Mike Allshouse. “It’s long been our goal to build and expand our Western Conference and we can’t think of a better city to start with than San Diego. The city has a tremendous football history and incredibly passionate fans. We are extremely confident that the fans will embrace the Strike Force and the team will be successful in San Diego.”
The IFL’s roots trace back to 2003 when two businessmen in Texas created the six-team Intense Football League. The league grew from six to eight, to 10 teams. In 2004, several veteran team operators in the Midwest formed a rival league, known as the United Indoor Football Association, and that league enjoyed four years of success. During this period, league executives from both sides admired one another’s efforts and in 2008, the suggestion of a merger became reality as the two leagues agreed to dissolve their former affiliations and form the new Indoor Football League. Since that time, Sioux Falls has claimed six United Bowl Championships (2011-16), and Arizona (2017) and Iowa (2018) one apiece. The IFL’s official website can be found at www.GoIFL.com. 2019 San Diego Strike Force regular-season schedule
Day             Date                Opponent                                   Kickoff                       Arena
Friday          Feb. 22            at Quad City Steamwheelers       5:05 p.m. PT              TaxSlayer Center
Sunday       March 3          Tucson Sugar Skulls                    5:05 p.m. PT              Pechanga Arena
Saturday     March 9           at Cedar Rapids River Kings         5:05 p.m. PT              U.S. Cellular Center
Sunday       March 24        Green Bay Blizzard                      5:05 p.m. PT              Pechanga Arena
Sunday        March 31         at Tucson Sugar Skulls                 3:05 p.m. PT              Tucson Convention Center
Saturday     April 6              at Arizona Rattlers                      6:05 p.m. PT              Talking Stick Resort Arena
Sunday       April 14           Cedar Rapids River Kings           5:05 p.m. PT              Pechanga Arena
Monday     April 22           Arizona Rattlers                          7:05 p.m. PT              Pechanga Arena
Saturday     May 4              at Tucson Sugar Skulls                 6:05 p.m. PT              Tucson Convention Center
Thursday    May 9              Tucson Sugar Skulls                    7:05 p.m. PT              Pechanga Arena
Saturday    May 18            Arizona Rattlers                          7:05 p.m. PT              Pechanga Arena
Saturday     June 1              at Sioux Falls Storm                     5:05 p.m. PT              Denny Sanford Premier Center
Friday         June 7              Nebraska Danger                        7:05 p.m. PT              Pechanga Arena
Saturday     June 15            at Arizona Rattlers                      6:05 p.m. PT              Talking Stick Resort Arena
Home games in bold – All times PT.