History of sports in Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Fort Wayne, Indiana is currently home to seven minor league sports franchises. These include the Fort Wayne Fever of soccer's Premier Development League, the Fort Wayne Flash of the Women's Football Alliance, the Fort Wayne Firehawks of the Continental Indoor Football League, the Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League, and the Fort Wayne TinCaps of baseball's Midwest League.

Fort Wayne has also been home to three former professional sports franchises. These include the NBA's Fort Wayne Pistons (now in Detroit), the Fort Wayne Daisies of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and the Fort Wayne Kekiongas of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (an early predecessor to the current MLB).

Intercollegiate sports in the city include IPFW in the NCAA's Division I Summit League as well as NAIA schools Indiana Tech and University of Saint Francis.

Contents

[edit] History

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum as seen from Johnny Appleseed Park.
Parkview Field, home to the Fort Wayne TinCaps.

Fort Wayne has been home to a few sports firsts; the first professional baseball game was played May 4, 1871 between the Fort Wayne Kekiongas and the Cleveland Forest Citys.[1] It was rained-out in the top of the ninth inning, with the Kekiongas ahead 2-0.[2] On June 2, 1883, Fort Wayne hosted the Quincy Professionals for one of the first lighted baseball games ever recorded.[3][1] Fort Wayne has been credited for being the birthplace of the NBA when Fort Wayne Pistons owner Fred Zollner brokered the merger of the BAA and the NBL in 1949 from his kitchen table.[4][1] Also, on March 10, 1961, Wilt Chamberlain became the first player in the NBA to reach 3,000 points in a single season while competing at Memorial Coliseum.[1]

Fort Wayne hosted two NBA Finals Games in 1955 and 1956, as well as the third city to host the NBA All-Star Game in 1953.[5] The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum was also venue to the 2000 NCAA Men's Division I Volleyball Championship matches, in addition to hosting the 2000, 2001, and 2002 Mid-Continent Conference Men's Basketball Tournaments. Fort Wayne also annually hosts the U.S.S.S.A. National and Boys State Championships, held at Spiece Fieldhouse.[6]

On November 22, 1950, the Fort Wayne Pistons defeated the Minneapolis Lakers with a final score of 19 to 18 in the lowest scoring game in NBA history.[7]

Fort Wayne was rated the "Best Place in the Country for Minor League Sports" in a 2007 issue of Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal.[8]

[edit] Current sports teams

Professional Sports in Fort Wayne
Team Sport League Established Venue Championships
Fort Wayne Fever Soccer Premier Development League 2003 Hefner Stadium 0
Fort Wayne Fever Women's Soccer W-League 2004 Hefner Stadium 0
Fort Wayne Flash Women's Football Women's Football Alliance 2007 Woodlan Junior / Senior High School 0
Fort Wayne Firehawks Indoor football Continental Indoor Football League 2010 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 0
Fort Wayne Komets Hockey International Hockey League 1952 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 6 (IHL), 1 (UHL)
Fort Wayne Mad Ants Basketball NBA Development League 2007 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 0
Fort Wayne TinCaps Baseball Midwest League 1993 Parkview Field 1

[edit] Former sports teams

Professional Sports in Fort Wayne
Team Sport League Existence Venue Championships
Fort Wayne Caseys Basketball American Basketball League 1925-1926 0
Fort Wayne Daisies Baseball All-American Girls Professional Baseball League 1943-1954 North Side High School
Memorial Park		 0
Fort Wayne Flames Soccer American Indoor Soccer Association 1986-1989 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 0
Fort Wayne Freedom Indoor football Continental Indoor Football League 2003-2006, 2008-2009 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 0
Fort Wayne Friars Football Independent 1909-1917, 1920-1921 League Park
Fort Wayne Fury Basketball Continental Basketball Association 1991-2001 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 0
Fort Wayne Fusion Arena football af2 2007 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 0
Fort Wayne General Electrics Basketball National Basketball League 1937-1938 North Side High School Gym 0
Fort Wayne Hoosiers Basketball American Basketball League 1926-1931 0
Fort Wayne Kekiongas Baseball National Association of Professional Base Ball Players 1871 Hamilton Field 0
Fort Wayne Pistons Basketball National Basketball League
National Basketball Association		 1941-1948
1949-1957		 North Side High School Gym
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum		 2 (NBL)
0 (NBA)
Fort Wayne River City Rhinos Football Mid Continental Football League 1993-2001 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 0
Fort Wayne Safari Football Indoor Professional Football League 2000-2002 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (never played)
Indiana Kick Soccer American Indoor Soccer Association 1989-1990 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 0

[edit] Notable natives and former residents

[edit] Athletes

Manager of the Cleveland Indians from 2003-2009, Fort Wayne native Eric Wedge.
Pro Football Hall of Famer, native Rod Woodson.

[edit] The Journal Gazette List of the Area's Best 26 Athletes of All Time

[18]

  1. Rod Woodson
  2. Johnny Bright
  3. Everett Scott
  4. Lloy Ball
  5. Don Lash
  6. Matt Vogel
  7. Sharon (Wichman) Jones
  8. DeDee Nathan
  9. DaMarcus Beasley
  10. Eugene "Bubbles" Hargrave
  11. Brad Miller
  12. Emil "Red" Sitko
  13. Willie Long
  14. Bob Cowan
  15. Billy Kratzert
  16. Cathy Gerring
  17. Lamar Smith
  18. Steve Hargan
  19. James Hardy
  20. Shanna Zolman-Crossley
  21. Jason Fabini
  22. Amy Yoder-Begley
  23. Vaughn Dunbar
  24. MaChelle Joseph
  25. Roosevelt Barnes
  26. Paul "Curly" Armstrong

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d (2008-01-19). Fort Wayne Sports Moments. The News-Sentinel. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
  2. ^ Retrosheet.org - First Game. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  3. ^ Miklich, Eric, Night Baseball in the 19th Century. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  4. ^ Rushin, Steve, (2007-02-05). Storming The Fort (wayne). Sports Illustrated. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  5. ^ NBA All-Star Games - Names and Numbers, Basketball Digest, March, 2002. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  6. ^ U.S.S.S.A. National Tournament. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  7. ^ NBA Dateline. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.
  8. ^ "Fort Wayne's #1". Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal. http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.printArticle&articleId=55963. Retrieved 2008-05-16. 
  9. ^ a b c d e f g http://www.baseball-reference.com
  10. ^ http://www.aagpbl.org/players/index.cfm?do=player.details&playerid=2
  11. ^ a b c d e f g http://www.nba.com/historical/playerfile/index.html
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/
  13. ^ http://www.cfhof.ca/page/brightjohnny
  14. ^ Sebring, Blake, (2009-06-06). Duke star, Fort Wayne native ready for Red Coat. "The News-Sentinel". Retrieved on 2009-06-10.
  15. ^ http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=28491
  16. ^ "New World Order: After years of battling for fair opportunities, people of color are finally running the show (in some places) and driving the economics in sports". Sports Illustrated. 2003-05-02. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/2003/new_world_order/1_20/. Retrieved 2009-06-11. 
  17. ^ (2007-02-27). More than Just a Game. Big Ten Basketball. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
  18. ^ (2009-08-09). Reders sound off on Top 26 athletes. The Journal Gazette. Retrieved on 2010-01-03.
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