By MIKE ECKERT
TRAVERSE CITY -- Daniel Skibbe wanted a central location for his Traverse City Wolves to call home.
On Wednesday, he got one.
At a press conference at the Traverse City Chamber of Commerce, Skibbe announced that the Wolves will play their five home games this summer at Traverse City Central High School.
"We felt this would be a great location," said Skibbe, who serves as the team's owner, general manager and interim head coach. "It is centrally located in the heart of downtown, it's near business and local merchants. It's also got plenty of parking so we can fit our fans, and also there's going to be improvements done to the field."
The Wolves will play in the North American Football league, which starts its season in June. Traverse City will play home games at 7 p.m. Saturday nights with tickets expected to be $10-12.
"The schedule will be released in two to three weeks," Skibbe said. "The league has gone under new ownership to get the bad teams out of the leagues and organize the divisions. The way we're set up right now, we'll play in the Great Lakes Division."
Likely opponents for the Wolves will be the Genesee County Patriots, the Racine Raiders, the Kane County Eagles and the London Silverbacks.
Improvements had already been approved for the track facility at Traverse City Central. The track circles the field the Wolves will use.
"TCAPS has received permission to re-do the locker-rooms, press boxes and (add) new wiring and water lines to the facility," Skibbe said. "They're also adding about 1,500 seats. On top of that, we'll add 2,500 more seating which will bring our total capacity to between 4,000-5,000 per home game. We feel this is a great number which will work out very well for ourselves and the school system."
TCAPS Director of Capital Projects Paul Mahon agreed.
"We have a football program for our kids," Mahon said. "Some continue on to play college football. We see this as a natural progression for kids to move from high school to semi-pro and on out."
Mahon said renovations were needed for old bleachers and could be done by the end of the track season.
As for the football field, it has been used in the fall as the practice field for the Central varsity team, which plays home games at Thirlby Field.
"As of right now, we are at TC Central for the long haul," Skibbe said.
Now, the Wolves are looking to fill the roster. There will be tryouts on Feb. 7 for players and cheerleaders at Just For Kicks. Those interested are encouraged to sign up in advance at www.tcwolves.com.
Skibbe is also filling out his coaching staff. Serving as the interim head coach after Roger Veliquette left for personal reasons, Skibbe has hired three assistants in the last week and is now up to eight on staff. Once he finds a head coach, Skibbe will step down to offensive coordinator to make for a smooth transition for the players already learning his system.
"I've always been under the belief that I'd like to field a team of 11 coaches," Skibbe said. "The more coaches you have the more detail-oriented you are in teaching a system."
