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The New York Knights were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in New York City. They played in the league for one season, 1988. They played their home games at Madison Square Garden. After going 2–10 overall in their only season the team ceased operations. The league then went several years before attempting to re-enter the nation's largest media market with the New York CityHawks.
The Charlotte Rage were a professional arena football team based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. They were members of the Arena Football League from 1992 to 1996. They played their home games at the Charlotte Coliseum from 1992 to 1994 and then again in 1996 and the Independence Arena in 1995. They were owned by Allen J. Schwalb, Joanne Faruggia and former National Football League and United States Football League quarterback Cliff Stoudt.
The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League. The team was formed prior to the 2000 season, which endured a player strike.
The Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks were an American football team headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina that played for one season in 1991 in the World League of American Football (WLAF). The name was inspired by the Wright brothers' flights on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The three jet-trails and three planes in flight, as well as the triangle design in the logo, represented the three points of the Research Triangle area. The team's cheerleaders were known as the "Kittyhawks."
Bojangles Coliseum is an 8,600-seat multi-purpose arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which also oversees nearby Ovens Auditorium and the uptown Charlotte Convention Center. The naming-rights sponsor is the Bojangles restaurant chain. The building's signature domed roof is made of tin instead of steel or iron. The dome spans 332 feet in diameter and rises to 112 feet tall.
Doug Kay is a retired American football coach who was most recently assistant head coach for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League (AFL), which league ceased operations after the 2017 season. He has more than 55 years of football experience, including 12 seasons in the AFL. He was the head coach of the Charlotte Rage, Carolina Cobras and Columbus Destroyers. He was also the head football coach at Olivet College from 1971 to 1975.
The Carolina Speed were a professional indoor football team that operated from 2007 to 2011 in Concord and Charlotte, North Carolina, at Bojangles' Coliseum in 2009 and 2011. From 2007 to 2009, the Speed were members of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). For the 2011 season, the Speed joined the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) and the team ceased operations after the season. The owner was Eddie Littlefield.
Athletes and sports teams from North Carolina compete at every level of competition in the United States including NASCAR Cup Series races, the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), leagues operated by the United Soccer League organization, and Major League Lacrosse (MLL), along with several colleges and universities in various conferences across an array of divisions. North Carolina also has many minor league baseball teams. There are also a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams throughout the state. For sport amateurs, the state holds the State Games of North Carolina each year.
Sports in Charlotte, North Carolina have a long and varied history. The city is home to teams at nearly every level of American sports including the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League and Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association. In addition to serving as the home base for several teams the city plays host to many events of national and international importance including the longest race in NASCAR, the annual Coca-Cola 600 and golf's Wells Fargo Championship.
The Charlotte Checkers are a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affiliate of the Florida Panthers and Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Checkers play their home games at Bojangles' Coliseum. The current organization is the third team by this name; it succeeded a Checkers franchise that played in the ECHL from 1993 until the end of the 2009–10 ECHL season. The original Checkers team played in the city from 1956 to 1977, originally in the Eastern Hockey League and then in the Southern Hockey League. The franchise is one of six teams to replace and share a name with a predecessor franchise from a lower-tier league; the others are the Bakersfield Condors, Colorado Eagles, Ontario Reign, Rockford IceHogs, and San Diego Gulls.
Zenret Troy Pelshak is a former American football linebacker who played two seasons in the National Football League with the St. Louis Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and attended Garinger High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pelshak was also a member of the Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europe. He played three seasons in the Arena Football League with the Carolina Cobras, Columbus Destroyers and New York Dragons. He was a member of the St. Louis Rams team that won Super Bowl XXXIV over the Tennessee Titans.
The Jersey Flight were a professional indoor football team based in Trenton, New Jersey. The team played its first two seasons in the American Arena League (AAL) and then as a member of the National Arena League (NAL) from 2020 to 2021. They were owned by New Flight Enterprises, LLC, and played at the CURE Insurance Arena as their home arena.
The American Arena League (AAL) is a minor professional indoor football league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), although the AAL only claimed the APF history after the former Can-Am founder left the league. Teams from both leagues, new teams, and later teams from Supreme Indoor Football and National Arena League constituted the new league for its inaugural season.
The Carolina Havoc were a professional indoor football team based out of Florence, South Carolina, as members of the American Arena League. In the 2018 season, the team was known as the Atlanta Havoc.
The Carolina Cobras are a professional indoor football team in the National Arena League (NAL) and that began play for the 2018 season. Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Cobras play their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.
The Charlotte Thunder are a professional indoor American football team based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the American Arena League (AAL) and play their home games at the Bojangles' Coliseum. The team was formed prior to the 2018 season as the Carolina Energy and was co-owned by Daniel Rudmann and head coach Ervin Bryson. In 2020, the team was sold to an ownership group led by former NFL players, Ted Ginn Jr. and Thomas Davis Sr. and rebranded as the Charlotte Thunder. The team also has several other minority owners including former players Jeff Reed and Frank Garcia. They are the fourth team to play in Charlotte behind the Charlotte Rage and Carolina Cobras, both formerly of the Arena Football League, and the Carolina Speed of the American Indoor Football Association.
The New York Streets were a professional indoor football team based in the New York metropolitan area. They were owned by Corey Galloway and were members of the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2019 season. They played their home games at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York.
Gerald N. Carr is a former American football quarterback and coach. He played college football at Southern Illinois before starting a coaching career that spanned from 1981–2012 with North Mecklenburg High School, Southern Illinois, Davidson, Akron, Washington State, Arizona, North Carolina, the Philadelphia Eagles, Wake Forest, the Carolina Cobras, Indiana, Kentucky, Baylor, Buffalo, Southern, and the Virginia Destroyers.
References
- General
- "Carolina Cobras — Team History". Arena Fan. Retrieved January 14, 2010.