Pauline Kirbo Thames
February 10, 2009
Julia H. Richard
February 12, 2009
Local professional football moved two steps closer to becoming a reality.
The Houma Conquerors of the Southern Indoor Football League released its debut 2009 season schedule, and the Conquerors signed a one-year lease agreement Jan. 23 with the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center to play its home games there.
The 13-week, 11-game regular season begins April 19 and concludes July 11. The teams with the four best records compete in a semifinal playoff round on July 18. The winners will play for the SIFL championship on July 25.
“The schedule is basically what we expected when we discussed it with the commissioner and founder of the league, Tom Hager,” said Conquerors’ owner and head coach Franklin Thomas.
The Conquerors will play six home games, only one of which – on April 26 – in Houma in the first seven weeks of the season. Thomas said he does not think the road-heavy early part of the schedule will affect his squad.
“The good thing about this league is the teams we’re playing are close. It’s a travel-friendly league,” he said. “Plus, we have two bye weeks during the time to recuperate, so that helps.”
The Conquerors’ opponents this inaugural season are the Louisiana Swashbucklers (Lake Charles), Acadiana Mudbugs (Lafayette), Texas Pirates (Houston), Austin Turfcats and Florida Kings (Tampa).
One of the original six charter clubs, Pasadena, Texas, was unable to field a team because of an illness to its owner.
Instead the Kings, which were not scheduled to begin play until 2010, will play five road games this season. While this season’s games will count in the standings, the Kings are not playoff eligible.
With the lease agreement between Thomas and the civic center signed, prices for season ticket packages, individual games tickets, group rates and corporate box suites went on sale last week.
The paperwork allowing ticket sales through TicketMaster and the civic center were also completed last week, according to Thomas.
The Terrebonne Parish Consol-idated Government still needs to approve the lease deal. It will take up the matter tonight at its regular board meeting.
In the meantime, the team has sent out about 15 contracts to players. None have been signed so far.
“We have players with contracts in their hands. They’re just looking over them,” Thomas said. “As they get contracts back to us and we get them approved by the league office, we’ll post them on our Web site.”
A mini-camp for signed players is tentatively scheduled for late February to introduce them to the offensive playbook.
“We’re going to start doing things as a team, get that chemistry gelling,” Thomas said. We’re going to start picking first and second teams and make that push toward training camp.”
By the time training camp starts in March, Thomas expects to have around 50 players under contract. However, only 21 will make the final team roster, with four more on the practice squad.
In other Conquerors’ news, Thomas said the defensive coordinator position is still vacant. For now, he and assistant coach C.J. Maiden will share those duties.
Team consultant and former New Orleans Saints’ quarterback John Fourcade left the Conquerors to take the general manager position with the Mudbugs last month.
“We had the understanding from the beginning that if something better came along that he would take it,” Thomas said.
Conquerors owner and head coach Franklin Thomas expects to have about 50 players in training camp later this month to battle for 21 roster spots. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF
