The La Crosse Spartans were a professional indoor football team based in La Crosse, Wisconsin. They were a member of the Great Lakes Division, of the United Conference of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

(IFL). They played their home games at the

La Crosse Center The La Crosse Center is a multi-purpose arena in downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin, built in 1980. The arena can seat between 5,000 and 7,500, depending on the type of event. The center is also a convention center. In addition to the arena, which ...

La Crosse La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's populat ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The team was founded in 2009, and was originally coached by former NFL player

Gilbert Brown Gilbert Jesse Brown (born February 22, 1971) is a former American football player. A nose tackle who played for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (1993–99, 2001–03), Brown played 125 Packers games (103 starts) recording ...

. They were also coached by his brother Kyle Moore-Brown.

History

On August 6, 2009, Chris Kokalis announced his intentions to start an IFL team in La Crosse for the 2010 season. Former NFL player

was announced as the head coach. On August 27, the Spartans were conditionally approved as members of the IFL. Such condition is that the Spartans negotiate a successful arena lease. On September 30, the Spartans got the formal go-ahead to play at the center. The Spartans were the third indoor football team to call the La Crosse Center home, following the

La Crosse River Rats The La Crosse River Rats were an Indoor American football, indoor football team based in La Crosse, Wisconsin. They were members of the original Indoor Football League (1999–2000), Indoor Football League (IFL) and played their home games at th ...

and the

La Crosse Night Train The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

2010 season

The inaugural season for the La Crosse Spartans was a difficult one. The schedule had the Spartans start the season with 3 tough road games against some of the best teams in the IFL. They lost at both Wichita and

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

, who eventually played against each other for the United Conference finals. Just before halftime of the very first game the Spartans would lose their starting Quarterback to a knee injury, beginning a season where they would go through multiple Quarterbacks and Kickers, trying to find the right fit for the team. They finished the first half of the season 0-7. The Spartans earned their first victory against the

Chicago Slaughter The Chicago Slaughter were an American professional football team based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Having been inactive since 2013, the franchise was a part of the CIFL from 2007 to 2009, winning the championship in 2009. The Slaughter joined ...

on April 30 in La Crosse. Their first road victory against at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on June 12 . They finished the season 3-11.

2011 season

The second season of the La Crosse Spartans began February 19, 2011, in the IFL’s showcase game, the Kickoff Classic. La Crosse played seven regular season games at home over the course of February through early June. Indoor football veteran Jose Jefferson joined the Spartans for the 2011 season as their Offensive Coordinator. After four games of the 2011 season it was announced that head coach

would be taking a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons, and that his brother Kyle Moore-Brown would be switching from assistant coach to head coach of the Spartans. On April 30, 2011 the Spartans became one of the few teams in indoor football history to post a shutout, beating the

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks were a professional indoor football team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Steelhawks began play as an expansion team in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2011. The Steelhawks moved to the Professional Indoor ...

51-0. On August 30, 2011, GM and co-owner Chris Kokalis announced the formation of the Cedar Rapids Titans, including former Spartans members Xzavie Jackson, Travis Miller and Mike Polaski. The Titans were listed as members of the Great Lakes division, along with the

Green Bay Blizzard Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

, Bloomington Extreme and

. The Spartans were not listed in this division. Kokalis said the Spartans franchise will "cease to exist", but also said that the team was up for sale.

Season-by-season results

Final roster

Attendance Statistics

Season By Season Average Attendance

Vs opponent

Year-by-Year Leaders

Passing (Yards/Touchdowns/Completions) Rushing (Yards/Attempts) Rushing (Touchdowns) Receiving (Yards/Touchdowns) Receiving (Receptions) All Purpose (Yards) All Purpose (Touchdowns) Returns (Yards/Returns) Returns (Touchdowns) Kicking (FG Percent) (minimum 10 attempts) Kicking (EP Percent) (minimum 10 attempts) Tackles Sacks Interceptions

Awards and honors

2011 * First Team All-IFL Defense (DL) - Xzavie Jackson * Week 4 Defensive Player of the Week - Xzavie Jackson * Week 10 Defensive Player of the Week - La Crosse Spartans Defense 2010 * IFL Community Relations Award - La Crosse Spartans * First Team All-IFL Defense (DB) -

Darnell Terrell Darnell Terrell (born May 30, 1984, in St. Louis, Missouri) is a professional American and Canadian football cornerback who is currently a free agent. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cleveland Browns in 2008. He played college ...

* Week 9 Offensive Player of the Week - Mark Bonds * Week 16 Defensive Player of the Week -

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Official website

Facebook Page

Official Message Board

Official Fan Site

Twitter Page
Former Indoor Football League teams American football teams in Wisconsin