| Wichita Falls Force | |
 | |
| City: | Wichita Falls, Texas |
|---|---|
| League: | USA Central Hockey League |
| Founded: | 2018 |
| Home Arena: | Kay Yeager Coliseum |
| Colors: | Navy, Red, and White |
The Wichita Falls Force were an ice hockey team from Wichita Falls, Texas. The team was a founding member of the USA Central Hockey League. The league intended to be a tuition-free junior hockey league similar to Tier I and Tier II. The team was based out of the Kay Yeager Coliseum. On July 19, 2018, the team announced they would be named the Force.[1]
The Force succeeded the Wichita Falls Wildcats who played in the North American Hockey League from 2004 to 2017 and then folded after requesting a leave of absence for the 2017-18 season.
After playing its first games in the last weekend of October 2018, the league ran into several arena issues in McAllen and Hidalgo leading to many cancelled and postponed games. The league also had several personnel issues with all initial coaches and the league president leaving the league before one month into the season. By November 14, the media advisor, after failing to receive payment, deleted all social media accounts and the player advisor then began pulling players from the league, leading to short benches and rumors of the league's demise.[2]
The league continued to play games but eventually had its first team fold on November 29. On November 30, the Force announced it had cancelled its home game due to bus scheduling issues with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (USACHL). However, the city of Wichita Falls claimed it had locked the Force out of the arena due to non-payment. The team then folded on December 1 when the billet families for the remaining players announced the players were leaving.
References[]
- ↑ www.kswo.com/story/38687886/introducing-the-wichita-falls-force
- ↑ https://www.juniorhockey.com/news/news_detail.php?news_id=93438