The Myrtle Beach Freedom were a professional indoor football team based in

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as "The Grand Strand" in the northeastern part of the state. Its y ...

, and played their home games at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. They were a member of

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

for one season until the league ceased operations in the summer of 2016. The Freedom were the second indoor football team to call Myrtle Beach home, following the

Myrtle Beach Stingrays Myrtle may refer to: Plants * Myrtaceae, the myrtle family **'' Myrtus'', the myrtle genus * List of plants known as myrtle, including a list of trees and plants known as myrtle In geography Canada * Myrtle, Ontario, a community United States ...

of the

National Indoor Football League 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, A ...

, which only played part of the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

in Myrtle Beach before moving to

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropolit ...

, the following season.

History

The Freedom had originally joined

X-League Indoor Football X-League Indoor Football (X-League) was a professional indoor football minor league that began play in 2014. The league was co-chaired by Michael Mink and Kacee Smith. On September 19, 2015, the league announced a merger with the future "North ...

(X-League), but the Freedom were forced to choose a new league after the X-League ceased operations. The Freedom joined

(AIF) in October, 2015. On April 19, 2016, the Freedom replaced coach Ryan David with Terry Foster. Coach David, along with two assistant coaches, resigned from the team in protest of what they considered dangerous conditions for their players. Coach Foster came from the recently defunct travelling team, the Steel City Menace. Following the conclusion of the 2016 season, the AIF announced that it was ceasing operations, thus leaving the Freedom without a league. The Freedom's assets ended up in the hands of the Myrtle Beach Sharks, who wore the Freedom's uniforms throughout their brief existence in Arena Pro Football. In March 2017, the Freedom and the AIF were sued for providing unsafe field conditions during their May 23, 2016, home game against the

Columbus Lions The Columbus Lions are a professional indoor football team based in Columbus, Georgia and are a member of the American Indoor Football Alliance. The were a founding member of the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2017 season. The Lions were f ...

. Two of the Lions' players, Christopher Donnell Smith and David Toussaint, claim the turf came loose from the floor, which then caught their feet causing permanent damage to their knees and ending their careers.

Final roster

Final staff

Statistics and records

Season result

Head coaches' records

2016 season

Key:

Exhibition

''All start times were local to home team''

Regular season

''All start times were local to home team''

Standings

Playoffs

When the playoff schedule was initially announced, the Freedom were set to play the Southern Division's second-seeded

Florida Tarpons The Florida Tarpons were a professional indoor football team based in Lakeland, Florida, out of the RP Funding Center. Originally established in Estero, Florida, and playing out of Germain Arena, they began play in 2012 as an expansion team of t ...

. On May 30, the Freedom replaced the Northern Division's fourth-seeded Central Penn Capitals against the

West Michigan Ironmen The West Michigan Ironmen are a professional indoor football team based in Muskegon, Michigan (and representing the larger region which also includes Grand Rapids and Holland), the Ironmen play their home games at Mercy Health Arena. The team jo ...

. The Freedom's former position was replaced by the Southern Division's fourth-seed, the

Savannah Steam A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

References

External links

Myrtle Beach Freedom official websiteAmerican Indoor Football official website
{{AIF American football teams in South Carolina Former American Indoor Football teams Sports in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina American football teams established in 2015 American football teams disestablished in 2016 2015 establishments in South Carolina 2016 disestablishments in South Carolina