Reading Express: 2009 AIFA National Champions

The annual IFL League Meetings in Chicago wrapped up yesterday, and Reading Express Owner Ted Lavender, GM Tim Glase and Head Coach/Assistant GM Chris Thompson each returned home with a significant bump in excitement about the upcoming season.  A plethora of issues were discussed, and the hot-button item is the 2011 schedule.  Details are still being finalized, but the Express are chasing home-and-home games versus some powerhouses in the Midwest. 

At the top of our wish list is the Chicago Slaughter, the 2009 CIFL champions who are now entering their second season in the IFL.  The features popular Chicagoans Jim McMahon, who is part of the ownership group, Steve McMichael, the head coach, and Jarrett Payton, the starting running back.  Another candidate for a home-and-home series is the Green Bay Blizzard.  For obvious reasons, it would be great to play a team from a football crazy market like Green Bay.  But the team's strength lies in its players.  It's not uncommon for a Blizzards star to adorn a Packers uni in the fall.  If we get three wishes, then the list would include Bloomington Extreme, one of the most-respected organizations in the IFL. 

The Midwest rivalries will balance out a schedule that includes our fledgling fierce Divional rivalries.  The Express' four-team division next season will include the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, the Rochester Raiders and the Richmond Revolution.  While the Lehigh Valley team presents a natural rivalry, we're not writing off the Raiders and Revolution.  The stakes will be high, no matter the opponent, come the 2011 season.

As our fans surely understand, putting a season schedule together is quite a task for the league.  However, we're hopeful we have at least one wish come true in 2011.

Beyond the season schedule, the entire three-day meeting was productive for each team.  We captured some footage from each day for our fans:

Day 1: We caught up with a few people during Day 1 of IFL League Meetings in Chicago. The Commish, Tommy Benizio, gives a top-line state of the league comment, while Green Bay Blizzard COO Art Clarkson talks about the strength of the league. Todd Tryon, owner of the Sioux Falls Storm, discusses his progression from player to team owner. This video wraps up with Reading Express Head Coach Chris Thompson and Lehigh Valley Steelhawks Exec VP Mike Clarke talking about their fledgling rivalry.

Day 2: During Day 2 of IFL League Meetings in Chicago, we caught up with Billings Outlaws Head Coach Heron O'Neal about the team's 2010 championship. Omaha Beef Director of Business Operations Malissa Fritz discussed her team's IFL Game Day Operations Award, and West Texas Roughnecks PR Director Dane Lisser chats about his new organization's youth football initiative. The video wraps up with new IFL Director of Officiating Terry Haney talks about the league's top priority in terms of officials.

Day 3: IFL League Meetings wrapped up in Chicago on September 10. During the final day we chatted with Tri-Cities Fever GM Sean McGrath, Wenatchee Valley Venom Director of Business Operations Elizabeth Maldonado and IFL Director of Football Operations Mike Allshouse. The three-day meeting was a success, and teams are excited for the upcoming season. The 2011 campaign kicks off the last weekend of February.

Photo from ChicagoSlaughter.com