Talk of a Sherwood Park Expansion Franchise Heats Up Again
Posted March 5, 2011
If the Camrose Roadrunners are the Ottawa Roughriders of the PBL with all their reincarnations, then Sherwood Park would have to be the Winnipeg Jets. Like the Jets, Sherwood Park has a history in the league as they had some success back in the day, but never won a championship, and then they disappeared.
Over a decade later there have been rumors and rumblings that they might scrounge up a team and re-enter the league.
It would seem to be a good fit as Sherwood Park has one of the best minor ball programs in the province and the PBL would give players that have graduated from that program a place to play other than the AAA Sunburst League.
After the 2009 season Sherwood Park showed some real interest in joining the league after they had some exposure with the PBL due to Armena having to play some home games in Sherwood Park.
They even had a representative show up to the fall league meeting before ultimately deciding to enter a team in the NCABL. There was still a last ditch effort to try and round up enough players to form a second team, but it ultimately fell short.
After the NCABL team enjoyed limited success and finished near the bottom of the standings and had some scheduling issues with the league, the issue of forming a second squad for PBL play has come up again.
This would be welcome news to the PBL as it has been awhile since the league saw more than 6 teams compete for the cup. With its large and successful minor ball program, once a Sherwood Park franchise gains a foothold in the league there is no reason to think that it wouldn’t be a stable and successful franchise for years to come.
With support from some of the higher ups in the minor ball program for a team in the PBL, and with increased exposure of the league in Sherwood Park, it would seem that some day the rumors could become reality.
Whether that reality is sooner rather than later remains to be seen, but it seems that the Sherwood Park franchise is gaining some momentum.
Posted on March 5, 2011 by Steven Pahl
