Continental Indoor Football League

Continental Indoor Football League

Current season or competition: 2012 CIFL season
Continental Indoor Football League logo
Sport	Indoor football
Founded	2006
Director	Dave Stein
No. of teams	6
Country(ies)	United States
Most recent champion(s)	Cincinnati Commandos
Most titles	Cincinnati Commandos (2)
Founder	Eric Spitaleri, Jeff Spitaleri
Official website	CIFL Football

The CIFL's 2007 game ball

The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) is an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL). It was formed by Jeff Spitaleri, his brother Eric, and a third member, Cory Trapp, all from the Canton, Ohio area.

The league was originally called the OPIFL (short for Ohio-Penn Indoor Football League), but then executives decided to increase the league's appeal to the entire Great Lakes region. So far, the league has been relatively successful, having a cumulative attendance of over 75,000 in the inaugural regular season. However, the league, like other indoor football associations, has been plagued by folding franchises and unenforceable policies. For example, the 2006 champion Port Huron Pirates were found to have been paying some of their players over the league salary cap. 2007 saw several teams fold during the season, and during the 2008 season, the league's most successful team, the Rochester Raiders, moved to the AIFA due to frustration over the failure of the league to provide notice of an opponent's forfeiture, resulting in lost ticket and advertising revenue. The league also failed to return the Raiders' owners' emergency fund deposit, which was collected specifically to protect against such occurrences.

The league's primary competition for talent was the American Indoor Football Association, and teams have moved to and from that league. However, unlike the AIFA, the CIFL remains mostly a regional operation, with most of its teams clustered in the Midwestern United States. A similar but unrelated league, the Intense Football League, played in Texas through 2008 before merging with United Indoor Football to form the Indoor Football League for the 2009 season. Four CIFL franchises subsequently left the league to join the IFL. In 2011, the CIFL began fighting for talent with the newly formed Ultimate Indoor Football League, which is regionally based in the same area as the CIFL. After the 2011 season, the Cincinnati Commandos and Marion Blue Racers left the CIFL to join the UIFL, while the Saginaw Sting left the UIFL for the CIFL.

Official rules and notable rule distinctions

Field Size – 50 yards long by 25 yards wide, with end zones a minimum of 5 yards in depth. Fields may vary in size due to physical constraints within facility, with CIFL permission. End zones may be rounded due to hockey board configurations. Padded dasher board walls around the entire field that act as an extension of the ground (only “out of bounds” if contact made by opposing player that forces player into the dasher wall, much like a ‘down by contact’ rule).

Goal Posts – Goal posts are 12 feet (3.7 m) from the floor to the crossbar. The crossbar is 10 feet (3.0 m) in width. Anything used to hang the goalpost is considered a part of the upright.

Number Of Players – Eight players per team on the field at one time. Maximum of 20 active players with a 21st player that is only eligible for special-teams plays (kickoffs, field goals, point-after-touchdown plays). In the league's earlier years, the GLIFL/CIFL played with only seven players on each side.

Playing Time – Four 15-minute quarters with a running clock. Clock only stops for incomplete passes and out of bounds plays during the final minute of the second and fourth quarters. 25-second play clock.

Scoring – 6 points for TD, 2 points for run or pass conversion, or drop kick PAT, 1 point for place kick PAT, 2 points for defensive conversion following TD, 2 points for safety. 3 points for a field goal, 4 points for a drop kick field goal.

Backfield in Motion – One player may be in motion in any direction behind the line of scrimmage prior to the snap.

Offensive Linemen – Three linemen must be in a three- or four-point stance prior to the snap. They must line up guard, center, guard and next to one-another. Any offensive lineman not covered up by the fourth man on the line of scrimmage is an eligible receiver if he is wearing an eligible receiver number (1-49, 80-89).

Defensive Linemen – There must be three defensive linemen, and they must line up on the nose, or can line up inside foot-to-outside foot outside of an offensive lineman Linemen must rush inside if nose up or slanted into if shaded, and they must make contact before any movement to the outside is made.

Blitzing – Only one non-lineman can blitz at a time. This player can blitz from any direction, but must be at least five yards off the line of scrimmage/goal line prior to the snap. Players do not have to announce their eligibility to blitz.

Linebackers – At least two defensive players must line up at least 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The other two non-linemen must either line up face-to-face with an offensive non-lineman on the line, or be five yards behind the line of scrimmage. After the snap, this rule is eliminated and the players can roam anywhere they wish, provided it doesn’t violate blitzing rules. Linebackers can line up at the goal line if the offense is within five yards of scoring.

Kickoffs – If a kickoff leaves the field of play on the fly, the ball comes out to the 25-yard line. The sideline walls and end zone walls are not out of bounds, and balls can be played off of them. If a kickoff leaves the field of play after making contact with the field or a player on either team, the ball comes out to the 5-yard line, or the point in which it leaves the field of play, whichever is closest to the kicking team’s goal line.

Offense – No punting. Offense must attempt to gain a first down or touchdown, or may attempt a field goal (by placement or drop kick).

Coaches – No coaches allowed on the field.

Overtime – Overtime is played with NCAA-style rules (each team gets one possession), but each possession is started with a kickoff rather than at the 25-yard line. Teams must go for a two point conversion (by scrimmage play) starting with the third overtime session.

Co-ed play – Two female placekicers, Katie Hnida and Julie Harshbarger, have played for the CIFL. Excluding all-female leagues, the CIFL is one of only two professional football leagues (the Atlantic Coast Football League in 1970 being the other) to have hired female players; the CIFL is the only league to have hired more than one, and the only one to have allowed its female players to score points.

Rule differences

The league does not utilize a rebound net, but otherwise, its rules are nearly identical to those of the Arena Football League.

Season structure

Since 2010, the CIFL season features the following schedule:

• a 10-game, 15-week regular season running from February to May or early June; and
• a 4-team single-elimination playoff beginning in June, culminating in the CIFL Championship Game in June.

Traditionally, American high school football games are played on Friday nights, American college football games are played on Thursday nights and Saturdays, and most NFL games are played on Sunday. Because the CIFL season is played at a different season than the high school, college and NFL seasons, the CIFL schedules Friday, Saturday and Sunday games.

Exhibition season

During mini-camps in the winter, CIFL teams typically play one-to-two exhibition games from early January through early February. Each team is free to schedule these games, but all games must be approved by the league. No games are allowed within one week of the team's first regular season game. The games are useful for new players who are not used to playing indoor football.

Regular season

Following the preseason, each of the six teams embark on a eleven-week, ten-game schedule, with the extra week consisting of a bye to allow teams a rest sometime in the middle of the season. According to the current scheduling structure, the league schedule will be designed to minimize travel costs and create games that maximize the competitive advantages of each game as possible. Failure to provide the appropriate number of dates to the league office will have a significant outcome on the type of schedule a team receives. The league would like to release the schedule by October 1 of each year.

The league had been using a scheduling formula to pre-determine which teams plays whom during a given season. Under the formula since 2010, each of the six teams' respective 10-game schedule consists for the following:

• Each team plays the other five teams in the league twice: once at home, and once on the road (ten games).

This format has been tweeked due to a travel team being in the year since 2009. The current rule reads:

• The CIFL regular season consists of a schedule of 10 games for each team.

This allows for travel teams to play all their games on the road, and gives every team in the league an extra home game for each travel team in the league.

Although this scheduling formula determines each of the six teams' respective opponents, the league usually does not release the final regular schedule with specific dates and times until the winter; the CIFL needs several months to coordinate the entire season schedule so that, among other reasons, games are worked around various scheduling conflicts.

CIFL Championship Game

Main article: CIFL Championship Game

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2006	Port Huron Pirates	Rochester Raiders	40-34
2007	Rochester Raiders	Port Huron Pirates	37-27
2008	Saginaw Sting	Kalamazoo Xplosion	41-37
2009	Chicago Slaughter	Fort Wayne Freedom	58-48
2010	Cincinnati Commandos	Wisconsin Wolfpack	54-40
2011	Cincinnati Commandos	Marion Blue Racers	44-29

All-Star Game

The league had put on a All-Star game in 2006, but it has since not put the event on again.

Teams

Current CIFL teams

The CIFL consists of six clubs. Each club is allowed a maximum of twenty-five players on their roster, but may only dress twenty-one to play each week during the regular season. Five teams are in the Eastern Time Zone and one is in the Central Time Zone.

The Dayton Silverbacks are the longest tenoured franchise. There is potentental for a possible merger with the American Professional Football League in 2013. Since the 2012 season, the teams have been aligned as follows:

Chart notes

An asterisk (*) denotes a franchise move. See the respective team articles for more information.

Former CIFL teams

In its early years, the CIFL was a very unstable and somewhat informal organization, but it grew annually very well. Many teams entered and left the league annually. The worst instance of teams exiting, occured when the new Indoor Football League was formed and the league lost five teams. The league has been able to field at least six teams in each year of it's existance, gaining and losing teams each year from both expansion and teams shifting leagues.

Expansions and contractions

Year	# of teams	Expansion teams	Folded teams	Suspended teams	Moved teams	Relocated teams	Name changes
2006	6	Battle Creek Crunch Lehigh Valley Outlawz Marion Mayhem New York/New Jersey Revolution Port Huron Pirates Rochester Raiders
2007	14	Chesapeake Tide Chicago Slaughter Kalamazoo Xplosion Miami Valley Silverbacks1 Muskegon Thunder New England Surge Springfield Stallions3 Steubenville Stampede3 Summit County Rumble3		Motor City Reapers			Port Huron Pirates → Michigan Pirates
2008	15	Flint Phantoms Fort Wayne Freedom Milwaukee Bonecrushers Rock River Raptors Saginaw Sting	Springfield Stallions Steubenville Stampede Summit County Rumble Michigan Pirates Motor City Reapers
2009	8	Wheeling Wildcats Wisconsin Wolfpack	Flint Phantoms Lehigh Valley Outlawz New England Surge	Kalamazoo Xplosion	Chesapeake Tide2 Muskegon Thunder2 New Jersey Revolution4 Rochester Raiders2 Saginaw Sting2
2010	6	Cincinnati Commandos Fort Wayne Firehawks	Fort Wayne Freedom Rock River Raptors Wheeling Wildcats		Chicago Slaughter2	Milwaukee Bonecrushers → Chicago Cardinals
2011	6	Indianapolis Enforcers Marion Blue Racers Port Huron Predators	Marion Mayhem	Fort Wayne FireHawks Wisconsin Wolfpack			Chicago Cardinals → Chicago Knights Miami Valley Silverbacks → Dayton Silverbacks
2012	6	Chicago Vipers Evansville Rage Port Huron Patriots Saginaw Sting6	Chicago Knights Port Huron Predators		Cincinnati Commandos5 Marion Blue Racers5

Chart notes

1. Moved from the American Indoor Football Association.
2. Moved to the Indoor Football League - Note the Raiders had originally gone to the AIFA.
3. The league took over operations and ceased for failure to meet league requirements.
4. Moved to the American Indoor Football Association
5. Moved to the Ultimate Indoor Football League
6. Moved from the Ultimate Indoor Football League

Media

Television

The league does not have it's television rights sold to a network, such as the Arena Football League with the NFL Network. Individual teams are free to work out deals with their local affiliates to broadcast their games.

Radio

Each CIFL team usually works out it's own radio network deal with local stations, and the stations employ its announcers. Nationally, the CIFL is heard on the CIFL Radio Network, which can be used online via the CIFL GameCenter on the league's website.

Internet and new media

In 2010, the CIFL introduced the CIFL GameCenter which allows statisticians wired to into the CIFL Network. As they use the stat software to record the game, it is updated live in the GameCenter.

Player contracts and compensation

Salaries

Base player salaries must be no less than $50 per game and no more than $200 per game. There are no win bonuses since the 2010 season, as agreed at the owner meetings.

Salary cap

As of the 2010 season, the weekly team salary cap is $3,000 per week. Any team in violation of the salary cap will be fined and could have either players suspended for the season or forfeiture of games in which they violated the cap.

Awards

Current Awards

• Most Valuable Player (Vincent Cleveland Memorial Trophy)
• Offensive Player of the Year
• Defensive Player of the Year
• Special Teams Player of the Year
• Coach of the Year

Discontinued awards

• Quarterback Player of the Year
• Running Back of the Year
• Wide Receiver of the Year
• Linebacker of the Year
• Defensive Back of the Year
• Return Man of the Year
• GLIFL All-Star Game MVP
• All-Purpose Player of the Year

Past Winners

2006

• Most Valuable Player (Vincent Cleveland Memorial Trophy) - Matt Cottengim, Rochester Raiders
• Offensive Player of the Year - Matt Cottengim, Rochester Raiders
• Quarterback of the Year - Matt Cottengim, Rochester Raiders
• Running Back of the Year - Rayshawn Askew, Port Huron Pirates
• Wide Receiver of the Year - Maurice Jackson , Rochester Raiders
• Defensive Player of the Year - Eddie Bynes, Port Huron Pirates
• Linebacker of the Year - Ed Chan, NY/NJ Revolution
• Defensive Back of the Year - Eric Gardner , Battle Creek Crunch
• Return Man of the Year - Darius Smith, Rochester Raiders
• GLIFL All-Star Game MVP - Shane Franzer, Port Huron Pirates
• Coach of the Year - Brian Hug, Port Huron Pirates

2007

• Most Valuable Player (Vincent Cleveland Memorial Trophy) - Robert Height, Port Huron Pirates
• Offensive Player of the Year - Robert Height, Port Huron Pirates
• Defensive Player of the Year - Eddie Bynes, Port Huron Pirates
• Special Teams Player of the Year - Brad Selent, Kalamazoo Xplosion
• CIFL Indoor Championship Game Most Valuable Player - Mike Condello, Rochester Raiders
• Coach of the Year - Karl Featherstone, Port Huron Pirates

2008

• CIFL Most Valuable Player - David Gater, Kalamazoo Xplosion
• Offensive Player of the Year - Randy Bell, Rock River Raptors
• Defensive Player of the Year - David Gater, Kalamazoo Xplosion
• Special Teams Player of the Year - Brad Selent, Kalamazoo Xplosion
• Coach of the Year - Mike Sparks, Kalamazoo Xplosion

2009

• CIFL Most Valuable Player - Russ Michna, Chicago Slaughter
• Offensive Player of the Year - Russ Michna, Chicago Slaughter
• Defensive Player of the Year - Bryceon Lawrence, Marion Mayhem
• Special Teams Player of the Year -
• Coach of the Year - Matt Land, Fort Wayne Freedom

2010

• CIFL Most Valuable Player - Ben Mauk QB, Cincinnati Commandos
• Offensive Player of the Year - Dominick Goodman WR, Cincinnati Commandos
• Co-Defensive Players of the Year - James Spikes DL, Cincinnati Commandos / Tramaine Billie LB, Fort Wayne Firehawks
• Special Teams Player of the Year - Mike Tatum WR, Marion Mayhem / Fort Wayne Firehawks
• All-Purpose Player of the Year - Brandon Wogoman WR, Chicago Cardinals (CIFL) / Wisconsin Wolfpack
• Co-Coaches of the Year - Brian Wells Miami Valley Silverbacks / Billy Back Cincinnati Commandos

2011

• CIFL Most Valuable Player - Tyler Sheehan QB, Cincinnati Commandos
• Offensive Player of the Year - Tyler Sheehan QB, Cincinnati Commandos
• Defensive Player of the Year - Chris Respress DB, Dayton Silverbacks
• Special Teams Player of the Year - Mike Tatum WR, Marion Blue Racers
• Coach of the Year - Ryan Terry Marion Blue Racers

Cheerleading

All of the CIFL teams are supported by their own professional cheerleading squads. These squads attend games and promote the team.

References

External links

• Official Website
• CIFL Official Photography Website
• GLIFL/CIFL Stats
• GLIFL's 2006 Stats
• CIFL's 2007 Stats