“Think I’ll buy me a football team,” is not just a line in a Pink Floyd song for San Angelo Bandits’ owner Randy Sanders. He purchased the team four years ago after the end of the Stampede Express, and the name "Bandits" is the result of a contest ran in the newspaper.
While the team has been on a sort of rollercoaster ride from season to season, Sanders said he still has faith in his team.
“We came in dead last,” he said about the first season. However, after some changes in staff, the Bandits won the championship their second season; last year, the team came in second to last.
“This year, we brought [coach] Meadow Lemon in, and he’s the right choice; there’s no question," Sanders stated. "We went from worst to first to worst. Well, what’s the prediction now? Back to first is the only thing we can do.”
Coach Lemon comes to San Angelo from the Arena Football League, which is a league above the Indoor Football League. He helped put the Portland Thunder on the map and built a team from scratch.
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Above: Head Coach, Meadow Lemon.
“[He] is doing a fantastic job of bringing in some top-notch quality players. They’re really going to make San Angeloans proud to say the Bandits are their home town professional team,” stated Sanders.
Some may be wandering what exactly indoor football is like and how it compares to, say, a Cowboys game. Sanders explained, “Indoor football is like hockey and wrestling on turf because it’s fast and furious and we have a lot of fun out there.”
While San Angelo’s Foster Communications Coliseum may not be quite the size of AT&T Stadium, it still has plenty to offer. In addition to food and full service bars, there is plenty of excitement happening during the game.
“We do more than just play football; we entertain," noted Sanders. "We have some crazy things at half-time, all the way from ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ slug races to toilet paper tossing; and we do a lot of different things with sponsors and advertise their products. During the game, we have a man in the stands and we have ‘Dance For Your Dinner,’ and we give away a lot of gift certificates and things like that. We also throw 400 items in the stands each game; from stress balls, to peanuts, to t-shirts, etcetera.”
After the games, the audience is invited down on the field to meet the players.
“These guys are real professionals,” Sanders stated of his players. Additionally, a post-game party is normally hosted at one of the local venues. “It’s a night of entertainment,” he added.
While the Bandits are providing affordable entertainment for the whole family, they are also doing some good in the community.
“Every game, we will have a theme, and every game will have a charity that we are doing something for. The first charity will be St. Jude,” said Sanders.
Other charities and organizations that the Bandits will be benefiting include the Children’s Miracle Network, Children’s Advocacy, and the Boy’s and Girl’s Club.
“We take and pick one each time and give them an opportunity to sell tickets and we split the proceeds,” Sanders added.
The San Angelo Bandits’ season begins Feb. 27, 2016, but the first home game will be on March 12. For more information on the team, schedule, or how to purchase tickets, visit www.sabandits.com.
The Bandits’ motto is “Glory bound,” and Sanders said, “We’re going for the glory!”
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