The Peach State Cats are a professional indoor football team based in

Suwanee, Georgia Suwanee is a city in Gwinnett County and a northeastern suburb of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,355; this had grown to an estimated 20,907 as of 2019. Portions of Forsyth and Fulton counties ...

. They originally announced to play home games at

Dalton Convention Center The Dalton Convention Center is a multi-purpose venue in Dalton, Georgia built in 1991. Owned by the city of Dalton and by Whitfield County, the Convention Center is operated by the general manager and director of tourism, Doug Phipps and Margar ...

Dalton, Georgia Dalton is a city and the county seat of Whitfield County, Georgia, United States. It is also the principal city of the Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Murray and Whitfield counties. As of the 2010 census, the ci ...

, for the 2018 season but were eventually made a travel-only team. They moved to Classic Center in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

, the following season.

History

The Cats were founded in 2017 by owner Tim Freeman, originally announced as members of the regional semi-professional Elite Indoor Football and coached by

Mareno Philyaw Mareno Philyaw (born December 19, 1977) is a former American football wide receiver who played two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Falcons in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. Ph ...

. However, after the

American Arena League The American Arena League (AAL) is a professional indoor football minor league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), although the AAL on ...

(AAL) lost the

Vermont Bucks The Vermont Bucks were an Indoor American football, indoor football team based in Vermont. They started as a charter member of the professional Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), playing home games at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Verm ...

, the league added the Cats to fill in for the lost away games. They were scheduled to play at least two home games at

, but were forced to be a road team due to constant schedule changes causing the team to be unable to secure the arena. Their first game was at the

Georgia Doom The Georgia Doom were a professional indoor football team based out of Macon, Georgia. They play their home games at Macon Coliseum. They started as a midseason road team filling in for the folded Dayton Wolfpack in the National Arena League in 2 ...

on March 30, 2018. They finished the season with a 0–6 record. For the 2019 season, owner Tim Freeman announced it had hired former

Atlanta Havoc Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

head coach Boo Mitchell as the new general manager and that the team had secured a new home arena at the Classic Center in

, for the 2019 season. They finished second in their division to the

Carolina Energy The Charlotte Thunder are a professional indoor American football team based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the American Arena League (AAL) and play their home games at the Bojangles' Coliseum. The team was formed prior to t ...

, ahead of the Carolina Cowboyz and the folded

, but the Energy elected to use its division champion clause to have a bye week instead of hosting a playoff game due to scheduling issues with their arena. This led to the Cats being to only division runner-up to not make the playoffs in the 2019 season. Following the season, the Cats hired Tony Pierce as the head coach for the 2020 season. They then announced they had formed a new league, called the United Arena League (UAL), for the 2020 season along with former EIF team the Georgia-Lina Lions and a new travel-team called the Atlanta Pirates. The Pirates were replaced by another former EIF team, the Atlanta Furious, and the Cats scheduled their home games at Cumming Fairgrounds Arena, a covered outdoor arena in

Cumming, Georgia Cumming is a city in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States, and the sole incorporated area in the county. It is a suburban city, and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In the 2020 census, the population is 7,318, up from 5,430 in 2010. Su ...

. The 2020 UAL season was ultimately cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The Cats won their first game in the UAL, and their first game at the Cumming Fairgrounds, 42–26 against the Georgia-lina Lions on May 8, 2021. The team went 4–1 for the 2021 season and lost to the Lions 41–53 in the UAL championship on July 17. On December 21, 2021, the Peach State Cats were announced as joining the semiprofessional

Elite Indoor Football In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

for the 2022 season.

References

External links

Official website
{{Sports in Georgia (U.S. state) Dalton, Georgia American Arena League American football teams established in 2017 2017 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) American football teams in Georgia (U.S. state) Sports in Athens, Georgia