Bemidji is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 census. According to 2021 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 15,279, making it the largest commercial center between Grand Forks, North Dakota and Duluth.
John S. Glas Fieldhouse is a 2,399-seat hockey arena in Bemidji, Minnesota, United States. It was home to the Bemidji State University Beavers men's and women's ice hockey teams until October 2010. The building, a part of a larger fieldhouse which contains the BSU Gymnasium and other athletic facilities. It was opened on November 17, 1967, and was dedicated on February 10, 1968. On October 1, 1975, the building was renamed in honor of John S. Glas, the acting president of the university at the time of the building of the arena. The Beaver ice hockey teams moved into the Sanford Center in October 2010. The Fieldhouse is now the practice facility for many Bemidji State athletic programs including Baseball, Softball, and golf. Bemidji Wiffle Ball began playing their games in The Fieldhouse beginning in 2014 and continued until Spring of 2017 when the Fieldhouse was renovated. The facility now serves as a practice facility for BSU Sports.
Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in the Winter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Minnesota has a team in all five major professional leagues. Along with professional sports, there are numerous collegiate teams including the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and St. Thomas Tommies in NCAA Division I, as well as many others across the Minnesota public and private colleges and universities.
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates as a women's ice hockey conference in the NCAA's National Collegiate division, the de facto equivalent of Division I in that sport. Founded in 1951 as a men's ice hockey conference, it added a women's division in 1999, and continued to operate men's and women's divisions through the 2020–21 hockey season. After that season, the WCHA disbanded its men's division after seven of its 10 men's members left the conference to reestablish the Central Collegiate Hockey Association; the WCHA remained in operation as a women-only league. Each team plays 28 league games, each team playing four games against every other, two home games and two road games.
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams among indoor football leagues. As of the 2023 season, the league consists of 14 teams in two conferences with each team playing 16 games over 19 weeks.
The Bemidji State Beavers women's ice hockey team represented Bemidji State University and participated in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. This was the Beavers final season in the John S. Glas Field House. For the 2010–11 season, the Beavers will move into the Bemidji Regional Events Center. Goaltender Zuzana Tomčíková represented her homeland of Slovakia in Ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Bemidji State doubled their win production compared to the 2008–09 season, when the Beavers claimed only six victories.
The Bemidji State Beavers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Bemidji State University. The Beavers are a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and play at Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota, as of the 2010 season, after previously playing at the John S. Glas Field House.
Zuzana Tomčíková is a Slovak retired ice hockey and ball hockey goaltender, currently working as a sports specialist with the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee. She was a member of the Slovak women's national ice hockey team from age 12 to 26, and represented Slovakia in the 2010 Winter Olympics and at several IIHF Women's World Championships. As a member of the Slovak women's national ball hockey team, she won silver medals at the Ball Hockey World Championship in 2009 and 2013, bronze in 2015, and placed fourth in 2017.
The Bemidji State Beavers are a women's college hockey team representing Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota, United States. They play at the NCAA Division I level, and compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).
The Bemidji State Beavers attempted to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
The Bemidji Axemen were a professional indoor football team based in Bemidji, Minnesota. The Axemen joined the Indoor Football League (IFL) as an expansion team in 2013 and first took the field for the 2014 season. They participated in the United Conference of the IFL. The Axemen played their home games at the Sanford Center in Bemidji.
The 2014 Indoor Football League season is the sixth season of the Indoor Football League (IFL). Playing with nine teams in two conferences spread across the United States, the league's regular season kicked off on February 21, 2014, when the reigning league champion Sioux Falls Storm played host to the Nebraska Danger. The regular season ended 17 weeks later on June 21, 2014, with the Nebraska Danger visiting the Texas Revolution.
The 2014 Nebraska Danger season was the fourth season for the Nebraska Danger as a professional indoor football franchise and their fourth in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of nine teams competing in the IFL for the 2014 season, the Nebraska Danger were members of the Intense Conference. For the fourth consecutive year, the team played their home games under head coach Mike Davis in the Eihusen Arena at the Heartland Events Center in Grand Island, Nebraska.
The 2014 Cedar Rapids Titans season was the third season of the Cedar Rapids Titans as a professional indoor football franchise in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of nine teams competing in the IFL for the 2014 season, the Cedar Rapids Titans were members of the league's United Conference.
The 2014 Green Bay Blizzard season was the team's twelfth season as a professional indoor football franchise and fifth in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of nine teams competing in the IFL for the 2014 season, the Green Bay Blizzard were members of the United Conference. The team played their home games at the Resch Center in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin.
The 2014 Wyoming Cavalry season is the team's fifteenth season as a professional indoor football franchise and fourth in the current Indoor Football League (IFL). One of nine teams competing in the IFL for the 2014 season, the Wyoming Cavalry are members of the Intense Conference. Led by head coach Ryan Lingenfelder, the team plays their home games at the Casper Events Center in Casper, Wyoming.
The 2014 Bemidji Axemen season was the team's first season as a professional indoor football franchise and first in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of nine teams competing in the IFL for the 2014 season, the Bemidji, Minnesota-based Axemen were members of the United Conference.
The 2015 Indoor Football League season was the seventh season of the Indoor Football League. Playing with ten teams in two conferences located in mid-sized cities predominantly in the central United States, the league's regular season kicked off on February 28, 2015, when the reigning league champion Sioux Falls Storm travelled to the Bemidji Axemen. The regular season ended 16 weeks later on June 20, 2015, with the Green Bay Blizzard visiting the Iowa Barnstormers. The playoffs were held in two rounds with the top two teams in each conference facing off in a conference championship game followed by the winners of those games meeting in the United Bowl.
The 2015 Bemidji Axemen season was the team's second and final season as a professional indoor football franchise and second in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of ten teams competing in the IFL for the 2015 season, the Bemidji, Minnesota-based Axemen are members of the United Conference.
The 2016 Indoor Football League season was the eighth season of the Indoor Football League (IFL). Playing with ten teams in two conferences located primarily in mid-level cities in the central United States, the league's regular season kicked off on February 20, 2016 and ended on June 24, 2016. The playoffs were held in three rounds, with the top seed in each conference receiving a first-round bye as the second and third seeds facing each other in the conference semifinal, with the winner of that game facing the top seed in a conference championship game followed by the winners of those games meeting in the United Bowl.
