The Charlotte Copperheads were an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
professional
indoor lacrosse
Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's official ...
team based in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
. They are a charter member of the
Professional Lacrosse League
The Professional Lacrosse League (PLL) was a men's professional indoor lacrosse league in the United States. It was announced in 2012 with its inaugural season scheduled to begin in September 2012. The league originated in a split with the North ...
(PLL) and began play in the 2012 season with their home games at the
Bojangles' Coliseum
Bojangles Coliseum (originally Charlotte Coliseum and formerly Independence Arena and Cricket Arena) is an 8,600-seat multi-purpose arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which als ...
.
History
The Copperheads are Charlotte's second indoor lacrosse team; the
Charlotte Cobras of the
Major Indoor Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...
(now known as the
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...
) played a single season at the Coliseum (when it was known as the Independence Arena) in 1996 before folding. The Cobras maintain the dubious distinction of being the only EPBLL/MILL/NLL team to finish an
imperfect season
A winless season is a regular season in which a sports team fails to win any of its games. The antithesis of a perfect season, this ignominy has been suffered twelve times in professional American football, six times in arena football, three times ...
, going 0-10 in their only season. Charlotte has also been granted expansion in the outdoor lacrosse league (
MLL) for the 2012 MLL Season, and are named the
Charlotte Hounds
The Charlotte Hounds were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) field lacrosse franchise that began play in the 2012 MLL season and ceased operations after the 2018 season. The team played their home games at American Legion Memorial Stadium.
Franchise ...
.
The franchise was announced in 2011 as the second of five founding members in the upstart
North American Lacrosse League, which hoped to start play in January 2012. On December 31, 2011, Charlotte and four of the five other teams announced the NALL had fired its acting commissioner and would move to a fall schedule. This led to a rift in the league that was settled in court, with the fall faction forming the Professional Lacrosse League.
The Copperheads began play in September 2012 with a road win against the Jacksonville Bullies. Their inaugural season concludes on December 1.
The PLL has since folded. This has caused the Copperheads to no longer exist.
Name-the-team contest
The Copperheads name was decided through a name-the-team contest-after various submissions, the official team name will be decided via a 16-nomination bracket from the top submissions. Notably, three of the finalists (Charge, Legion, Monarchs) were runners-up for the name-the-team contest which ultimately decided the Charlotte Hounds name for the city's 2012 Major League Lacrosse team.
Bracket
Roster
Season-by-season
References
External links
Charlotte Copperheads official website
Lacrosse in Charlotte, North Carolina
Lacrosse clubs established in 2011
Lacrosse teams in North Carolina
Sports teams in Charlotte, North Carolina
2011 establishments in North Carolina
Sports clubs disestablished in 2012
2012 disestablishments in North Carolina
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