Tri-City Fever and Arena Football
The city of Kennewick, part of the Tri-City region in south-central Washington, is home to the Tri-City Fever Arena Football team. Although the team represents all the constituent regions of the Tri-City, namely Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland (West Richland being occasionally included as the fourth of the three cities in much the same way as the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy extended to four books), the Fever plays all their home games at the Toyota Centre in Kennewick alone. Certainly, it is a modern well-provisioned stadium, perfectly suited to the unique nature of both the Tri-City Fever and Arena Football, which has different requirements to the regular, traditional game of football.
Arena Football
Arena Football is a game with much in common with its progenitor, American Football. There are some rule differences between the two, but the main distinguishing feature of Arena Football is the fact that it is played only in indoor venues of the same size as basketball or ice hockey stadium. Indeed, end zones may be horizontal as in a basketball court, or curved as in an ice hockey rink. Like an ice hockey rink, an Arena Football field is 85 feet wide. It is 50 yards long and is divided into 8-yard end zones. Play is designed to be faster and more free-flowing than a standard football and as a general rule, teams will score more goals and the games will be rougher. The smaller playing field, complete with padded sideline walls from which the ball may rebound and remain in play make for an exciting game indeed, particularly when watching a team like the Tri-City Fever. Arena football also features springy rebound nets on the sides of the posts. Any field goals which sail past the posts will bounce back and remain in play.
Tri-City Fever
The Tri-City Fever Arena Football team is a professional member of the AF2 league. They were established in 2005 to serve as an expansion member of the NIFB or National Indoor Football League. They went on to their first championship victory in the “Indoor Bowl” event. Defeating the Rome Renegades by 47 to 31 at the Kennewick Toyota Centre on the 30th of July, 2005 they won the Pacific Conference Championship in the same year, edging out Odessa. At the end of their 2006 season, the Tri-City Fever Arena Football team stated their intention to leave the National Indoor Football League. Recently it was announced that they would switch to the United Indoor Football league, accompanied by River City Rage and the Billings Outlaws. However, in a surprise twist, Tri-City has in fact joined the AF2 league.
Tri-City Fever’s Doug Coleman
Another recent and exciting development in the history of the Tri-City Fever and Kennewick Arena Football, in general, is the Fever’s appointment of Doug Coleman to the position of Head Coach. Formerly a quarterback, Doug Coleman played for the Fever in early 2005. At that stage, the Fever was behind but Doug Coleman led them to their first National Title of the Tri-City in 2005. Doug’s most recent previous assignment was as the Offensive Coordinator to the IFL team, the Louisiana Swashbucklers whom he led to the playoffs.
Related Resources:
- Columbia Park, Kennewick Washington
- Kennewick Rivers
- Wineries in Kennewick Wa
- Kennewick Arts & Culture