Stars Touch Down At UA Track Center

There’s a new game in town, or at least there will be come March.

On Dec. 14, a group announced that the Arkansas Stars, a National Indoor Football League team, will be playing at the Randall Tyson Indoor Track Center on the University of Arkansas campus. David Higgins, co-owner Red Ball Productions of Springdale, said his firm was hired by the Stars to promote the team. The team is owned by Hardgrave Investment Group of Alabama, he said.

So far, the Stars have a hired a director of dance for the cheerleaders, a team doctor and an assistant coach, Higgins said. One player, former Razorback running back Chrys Chukwuma, has been signed and the team is talking with two other former Razorbacks, Higgins said. Tryouts begin in January for the rest of the 22-member team. Players get about $200 per game to play, Higgins said. Games begin in March.

The NIFL was formed in 2000 and has 18 teams. The league is trying to get 30 teams organized by 2007, Higgins said.

There will be seven Stars home games, with the possibility of an additional three playoff games. Schedules for the league were still being hammered out at press time, but will be available at niflfootball.com. Higgins said the group is talking with a regional company about televising the games.

The team leases the Randall Tyson Indoor Track Center from University Conference & Entertainment Center, a Fayetteville event company that leases the center from March 15 through Nov. 30.