American West Football Conference

The American West Football Conference (AWFC) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2018 by Platinum Events & Security, LLC, the owners of the Idaho Horsemen. The league's inaugural season was in 2019.[2]

American West Football Conference
SportIndoor football
Founded2018
FounderPlatinum Events & Security LLC
Inaugural season2019
PresidentChris Reynolds
CommissionerBrandon Berner[1]
No. of teams5
CountryUnited States
Most recent
champion(s)		Idaho Horsemen
Official websiteAmericanWestFootballConference.com

History

After being unable to join the Indoor Football League or Champions Indoor Football citing financial and travel issues, Chris Reynolds, owner of the Idaho Horsemen announced that his ownership group Platinum Events & Security, LLC, created a new indoor league, the American West Football Conference (AWFC).[3] The league was created to fill the void of a lack of west coast teams and leagues and to decrease travel costs of operating the regional teams.[2][4] The league was announced with four teams: the Horsemen, Reno Express, Tri-Cities Fire, and the Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks. The AWFC later added the Sacramento Spartans, but the team's facilities did not meet league standards and was removed a month before the start of the season.[5]

The first game in league history was the Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks at the Idaho Horsemen on March 23, where the Horsemen won 33–22.[6] The season's first forfeit came on May 4 when the Skyhawks did not travel to play the Reno Express, who instead played a local semiprofessional team in order to fulfill its lease agreement. The following week, the only scheduled game was also postponed citing travel issues with the Tri-Cities Fire visiting Idaho, but was made-up on June 19. Idaho went undefeated and won the championship game 40–20 over Reno.

For the 2020 season, the league announced expansion teams in Yakima, Washington,[7] and the San Francisco Bay Area,[8] although the Bay Area team never launched.[9] In February 2020, the Reno Express was removed from the schedule[10] and the Tri-Cities Fire folded,[11] which led to the Idaho Horsemen and Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks both announce they would play independent schedules.[12][13] The league then announced it would be playing the 2020 season with three teams — Idaho, Wenatchee, and Yakima — while looking for non-league teams to fill in the lost games including the minor outdoor team, Tri-City Rage, filling in for the Fire's six scheduled away games.[14]

On March 13, 2020, the AWFC announced on its website that the 2020 season would be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, citing the high number of cases reported from Washington, one of two states that had a team in the league.[15] On July 31, 2020, the AWFC announced the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the unavailability of arenas during the pandemic.[16] On September 28, 2020, the league announced a new expansion team in the state of Oregon for the 2021 season[17] called the Oregon High Desert Storm.[18] On November 13, 2020, the Tri-Cities were announced as the league's new franchise, which was named the Tri-City Rush a day later.[19][20]

Teams

Current
TeamLocationArenaCapacityFoundedJoinedHead coach
Idaho HorsemenNampa, IdahoFord Idaho Center12,27920172019Chris Reynolds
Oregon High Desert Storm[21]Redmond, OregonFirst Interstate Bank Center[22]4,00020202021Keith Evans
Tri-City Rush[23]Pasco, WashingtonHAPO Center[24]20202021Brandon Tate
Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks[25]Wenatchee, WashingtonTown Toyota Center4,30020182019Meadow Lemon
Yakima CaninesYakima, WashingtonYakima SunDome[26]7,30320192020Warren Reynolds
    Rush
    High Desert Storm
    Canines
    Location of AWFC teams

    Former teams

    Seasons

    Standings

    Final standings.[27]

    2019 American West Football Conference
    Team W L PCT PF PA GB STK
    y — Idaho Horsemen 1201.000597331—W12
    x – Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks 66.5004613816W2
    x – Reno Express 66.5003393966W1
    Tri-Cities Fire 012.00030359212L12

    y – clinched regular season title

    x – clinched playoff spot

    Playoffs
      Semifinal     Final
                     
        3 Reno Express 20
      3 Reno Express 28     1 Idaho Horsemen 40
      2 Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks 27  

    References
    1. "NEW AWFC COMMISSIONER". AWFC. October 29, 2020.
    2. "HISTORY". Official Website. October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
    3. "A DECISION HAS BEEN MADE". AWFC Insider. October 15, 2018.
    4. Castete, Aaron (October 21, 2018). "Western US based indoor football league forming for 2019". Arena Football Talk. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
    5. "LETTER FROM THE COMMISSIONER". AWFC. February 20, 2019.
    6. "Mike Prater: These Horsemen don't appear headless". The Idaho Press. March 23, 2019.
    7. "YAKIMA CANINES JOIN AWFC". AWFC. September 11, 2019.
    8. "A NEW AWFC TEAM IN THE BAY AREA". AWFC. November 15, 2019.
    9. "AWFC Facebook post January 13, 2020". Facebook. January 13, 2020.
    10. "Yakima Canines set for arena football at the SunDome". Yakima Herald. February 26, 2020.
    11. "Tri-Cities Fire Facebook post February 26, 2020". Facebook. February 26, 2020.
    12. "Idaho Horseman Facebook post February 26, 2020". Facebook. February 26, 2020.
    13. "Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks Facebook post February 26, 2020". Facebook. February 26, 2020.
    14. "THE TRI-CITIES FIRE UN-EXPECTANTLY CLOSES UP SHOP!". AWFC. February 28, 2020.
    15. "2020 AWFC Season Postponed due to Coronavirus". www.americanwestfootballconference.com. March 13, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
    16. "THE AWFC CANCELS THE 2020 SEASON DUE TO COVID-19". American West Football Conference. July 31, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
    17. "THE AWFC MOVES INTO THE STATE OF OREGON". AWFC. September 28, 2020.
    18. "OREGON'S TEAM NAME AND LOGO REVEALED". AWFC. October 17, 2020.
    19. "THE AWFC IS HEADED BACK TO THE TRI-CITIES". AWFC. November 13, 2020.
    20. "TRI-CITIES TEAM NAME AND LOGO REVEALED". AWFC. November 14, 2020.
    21. "OREGON'S TEAM NAME AND LOGO REVEALED". AWFC. October 17, 2020.
    22. "Coming to the Expo!". expo.deshutes.org. October 20, 2020.
    23. "TRI-CITIES TEAM NAME AND LOGO REVEALED". AWFC. November 14, 2020.
    24. "RUSH SIGN WITH HAPO CENTER FOR THE 2021 SEASON!". AWFC. January 16, 2021.
    25. Darby, Uriah (October 9, 2018). "Evening News October 9, 2018". NCW Life Channel. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
    26. "AWFC Lands in Yakima!". Arena Football Talk. September 10, 2019.
    27. "AWFC Standings". AWFC. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
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