by Dan Krieger
December 26, 2022 – National Arena League (NAL)
BASEBALL
Prospect League: The summer-collegiate Prospect League recently announced its 2023 season schedule that will feature 17 teams aligned in an Eastern Conference with a four-team Ohio Valley Division and a four-team Wabash River Division, and a Western Conference with a four-team Great River Division and a five-team Prairie Land Division. The league operated with 16 teams in 2022, but the West Virginia Miners will sit out the 2023 season and expansion teams called the Jackson (TN) Rockabillys and a yet-to-be-named Marion-based Southern Illinois team have been added for 2023. The Southern Illinois team will choose among the Angry Beavers, Fungi, Monkey Rats, Swamp Foxes and Thrillbillies as its nickname based on fan voting that ends next week.
United Shore Professional Baseball League: The organizer of the four-team independent developmental USPBL, which plays all games at a ballpark in Utica (MI), announced earlier this year the league hopes to expand by securing a ballpark in another city by 2024 and adding at least two more teams to play games at that location. The USPBL’s plans to add more ballparks and teams were slowed by the coronavirus.
BASKETBALL
American Basketball Association: The semi-pro ABA announced three teams called the SoCal Sea Turtles, New Jersey Soldiers and Upstate Trojans (Syracuse) have been added as 2023-24 expansion teams. No specific markets were announced for the SoCal and New Jersey teams.
Athletes Unlimited – Basketball: The women’s professional Athletes Unlimited announced the second season of its five-week women’s pro basketball league will move from Las Vegas to Fair Park Coliseum in Dallas where the four teams will play 30 games from February 26 through March 26, 2023. Each week, players are scored through individual and team statistics and the top four performers become captains and select teams for the following week with one player selected as champion for the season. This basketball league follows the same format for similar Athletes Unlimited women’s leagues in volleyball, field lacrosse and softball.
FOOTBALL
American West Football Conference: The indoor AWFC, which is down to only three teams as it heads into its fourth season in 2023, has signed a partnership with the American Indoor Football Alliance (AIFA) to play cross-over games for the 2023 season. The AIFA will be playing its second season in 2023 and played one cross-over game…