The Jacksonville Bullies were a 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

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, U.S. Following a dispute with their original league, they played part of the 2012 season in 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 ...

before canceling the remainder of their games. They played their home games at the

Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena (originally Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena) is a multi-purpose arena located in Jacksonville, Florida. It currently serves as the home arena of the Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL, the Jacksonville Giants o ...

History

The franchise, co-owned by Brett Vickers and Chris Milo, was announced as the third founding member of the

North American Lacrosse League The North American Lacrosse League (NALL) was a professional indoor lacrosse league based in the United States. It was founded in 2011 as North America's fourth professional lacrosse league, after American Lacrosse League (field lacrosse, 1987) Ma ...

on August 4, 2011. One factor in the selection of

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

was the success of the Moe's Southwestern Grille Sunshine Classic tournament between

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

lacrosse teams, including the local

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College u ...

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

, in February 2011. The name and logo were announced on August 31; the name was chosen to recall the

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

hanging from its collar in reference to Jacksonville's strong connections with the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

. Jacksonville University defensive coordinator Brian Duncan was named

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

; co-owner Chris Milo also served as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. On December 31, 2011, Jacksonville and three of the four other teams announced the NALL had fired its acting commissioner and would move to a fall schedule. This measure led to a rift in the organization that went to litigation. As a result, the faction that stuck to the winter schedule retained the North American Lacrosse League name, while the fall faction formed the

. The Bullies played part of the 2012 season before canceling the remainder of their games in October.

References

External links

Jacksonville Bullies official website
{{Florida Sports Defunct sports clubs and teams in Florida Lacrosse teams in Florida Professional Lacrosse League teams Lacrosse clubs established in 2011 Sports clubs and teams in Jacksonville, Florida 2012 disestablishments in Florida 2011 establishments in Florida Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 2012