Former Bucks coach proud owner Houma’s new SIFL team

Professional football is finally returning to Houma next spring after a five-year absence.

The newly created Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) announced last week that Houma would be one of its six charter members.

The Houma franchise owner is Franklin Thomas, a former player and assistant coach of the defunct Bayou Bucks of the National Indoor Football League (NIFL), which called Houma home from 2002-2004.

“The people of Houma love and know football,” he said. “From a standpoint of fan support, it’s a great place to put a team. Houma being a close-knit community, they’ll support something that comes into that market.”

“There were a lot of hurt fans from when the Bucks folded,” he added. “The opportunity presented itself to own a franchise, and I thought there was no better place to put it than Houma, La., where the fans really embraced us as a team those three years.”

Houma was chosen along with Lake Charles, Lafayette, Houston, Austin and Pasadena, Tx. to play the inaugural season. One or two more teams could be added, but that has not been determined.

“I am amazed by the fans in Houma, and I wanted to see Houma come into it (SIFL) in 2009. They’re just great,” said Thom Hager, SIFL founder and president, as well as owner of the Lake Charles team, Louisiana Swashbucklers.

Thomas, who was also an assistant coach with the Arena Football League’s New Orleans Voodoo, was among 14 applicants vying for a spot in the SIFL, Hager said. He was chosen as an owner because of his background in the sport.

“Franklin Thomas has extensive experience in indoor football,” Hager said. “He has commitment and passion, and we need that to grow this league. He can put a great organization together.”

According to Hager, the SIFL will play a 12-game schedule beginning the week after Easter.

Thomas is working on a lease agreement with the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center as the home site for his team’s games.

“We have negotiated some dates with David Ohlmeyer (civic center director),” Thomas said. “The dates have been secured, so it’s just a matter of getting some papers signed. It will take some time for attorneys to review everything, but we should be reaching a lease agreement with them in the next several weeks.”

According to Hager, teams will have a 20-player roster and play 8-on-8.

The field is 50 yards long and 84-feet across.

Goalposts are 10 feet off the ground and 10-feet wide.

An SIFL owners’ meeting to finalize league rules is scheduled for Sunday through Tuesday in Lake Charles at the L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort.

Thomas was leaning towards naming his team the Conquerors, but has decided to take a different approach.

“We’re going to have a ‘Name the Team’ contest. We’ll let the fans in Terrebonne Parish vote on what name they want,” Thomas said. “We’ll have a Web site up in the next few days where the fans can choose the nickname.”

For Hager and Thomas, the SIFL will be about more than football. They expect the league and its teams to be good role models for each community.

“We have several programs that we launched with the Lake Charles franchise that we want to replicate throughout the league,” Hager said. “We asking corporate sponsors to send underprivileged kids to a game. There are a lot of kids that don’t have a dad in the home. We want to make sure these kids come to a game, meet some players and let those players know they need to be mentors and to reach out to those kids in a positive manner.”

Thomas said his club would be run by him and his wife’s non-profit organization, Conquerors Sports and League Development Foundation.

“This will be more than just a football team. We will be active with the youth and the schools in the community,” Thomas said. “We’re going to have mentoring programs. Players will go into the schools and read and mentor to the kids. It’s going to impact the community way more than just the sports-entertainment part.”