The Midwest Indoor Lacrosse Association ended on a high note last season when the Colorado Sabertooths, an expansion team, won the league’s second ever championship over the Grand Rapids Dragonfish. However, if you followed the league all season, you would know of the ups and downs they faced, from championship postponements, to lack of information to some teams just not belonging at that level.
Changes are coming from the MILA, no longer the MILA. They have changed their name to the Continental Indoor Lacrosse League as they are no longer strictly midwest with Colorado, and maybe some more teams coming in. They have every team from last season returning- Colorado, Grand Rapids, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Columbus, Southern Ohio, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Minnesota.
More teams could be coming. The Upstate Bears, located in Buffalo, will be a part of the 2013 season. There are talks with two teams in Dallas, and a Philadelphia team could also be on the horizon. However, they have not spoken with the Syracuse Stingers, a team looking for a league to call home. They also have not spoken with any teams in the NALL or PLL. Indianapolis, announced for this season, will not join the league.
One big problem last season had to do with Colorado, who was a dominant team from the start. Them, Chicago and Grand Rapids overall had a higher level of competition than Minnesota and Southern Ohio who struggled to put up three wins, and in some of those games, more than three goals.
Commissioner John Guy says they have looked at ways to fix this, possibly going to an English Premier League format with two tiers of competition. He also said in the future, not this season however, that top tier could end up being professional.
The schedule for this season should run the same as last season and there is an owners meeting in March. Some issues that need to be resolved include every team getting a turf, and every arena having proper seating for fans, along with evening out the level of competition. Colorado also has to fly to all of their games compared to every other team just busing. This is a concern with adding a team like Philadelphia as well.
The CILL will be adding a new logo next month as they officially announce their changes.
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