Lacrosse on Long Island: An in-depth look at New York’s newest professional team
February 20, 2019New York’s National Lacrosse League team now has a name.
On Sunday, Feb. 17 prior to the start of the final matches of the 2019 New York Open tennis tournament, the NLL revealed the identity of one of its newest franchises, the New York Riptide. The announcement and name reveal took place at the team’s new home venue in Uniondale, NY – NYCB Live, Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
See you in December. #RiptidePride #NYRiptide #NLL pic.twitter.com/m8Yd6zpXb6
— NLL (@NLL) February 17, 2019
The National Lacrosse League announced the planned addition of two expansion franchises in 2018. The league first awarded an expansion franchise to Halifax, NS back in September, followed by New York just three months later. Both teams are set to join the league in the 2019-20 season, which begins in December.
Long Island’s Lacrosse History
The New York Riptide isn’t the first indoor lacrosse team to compete on Long Island, with two other teams being a part of the NLL in the past.
The first indoor lacrosse team on Long Island was the New York Saints, who played at the Nassau Coliseum from 1989 until 2003 after relocating from New Jersey following the team’s Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL) championship season in 1988. The MILL eventually turned into the NLL and the Saints wouldn’t win another championship after moving to Long Island. The team eventually became inactive in 2003 and finally folded three years later after 15 seasons.
The second NLL team to come to Long Island was short-lived, known as the New York Titans. The Titans would last just three seasons in the metropolitan area, playing home games in three different arenas during the team’s tenure. During the 2007 season – the team’s first season in the NLL – its home games were split evenly between Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum, playing four games at each venue. In season two, all of the Titans’ home games were played in New York City at Madison Square Garden, with the exception of one neutral site game played at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ. The team’s final season in the northeast consisted of two games at Madison Square Garden, five at the Prudential Center and one at the BankAtlantic Center – now known as the BB&T Center – in Sunrise, FL.
After falling to the Calgary Roughnecks in the 2009 championship game, the team relocated to Orlando. The Orlando Titans would last just one season before folding without any notice.
Who’s in charge?
The National Lacrosse League awarded the New York expansion team to ownership group GF Sports, a sports and entertainment company based in New York under the GF Capital group. GF Sports announced a partnership with Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment – the operator of NYCB Live – in 2017 to bring the tennis tournament formerly known as the Memphis Open to Long Island, renaming the indoor event the New York Open. With GF Sports owning both the New York Open and the Riptide, the group chose to hold the team’s naming event during the indoor tennis tournament.
The team announced its first head coach and general manager on Jan. 14, 2019, naming former professional lacrosse player Regy Thorpe to both positions. Thorpe, who still serves as head coach of the U.S. indoor lacrosse team, holds more than 20 years of experience in both field and box lacrosse. The 47-year-old played lacrosse at Herkimer Junior College and was named Defenseman of the Year in 1991. He then enrolled at Syracuse University and, as team captain, led the Orange to its fifth national title in 1993.
Thorpe then spent 15 years as a player for the Rochester Knighthawks and another five seasons with the Major League Lacrosse’s Rochester Rattlers. He was the NLL’s first player/general manager when he took the job as Knighthawks’ GM in 2008 while still playing for the team. Thorpe has also represented the United States internationally in the 2002 and 2004 Heritage Cup and won a bronze medal with Team USA in 2007 at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships.
Embed from Getty ImagesThorpe has success behind the bench in his career, serving as head coach for the Six Nations Arrows Junior A team of the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League, leading the team to the 2007 Minto Cup. He also worked as head coach for the Hamilton Nationals of the NLL, appearing in the world championship game in 2012 and was the head coach of the Long Island Sound of the UWLX in 2017 and 2018.
Prior to accepting his positions with the Riptide, Thorpe was the associate head coach at his alma mater for Syracuse’s women’s lacrosse team.
Assisting Thorpe will be Director of Lacrosse Operations and Assistant General Manager Lance Basler. According to the Riptide website, Basler will “oversee all lacrosse operations for the team” and will be in charge of development and management of the team’s community involvement. Basler will also support the Riptide’s scouting, contract negotiations and player transactions.
The Arena
The Riptide will begin play in December, 2019, with home games played at NYCB Live, Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Commonly known as the Nassau Coliseum, the building originally opened in 1972 and served as the home arena for the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders from 1972-2015.
After the team’s lease expired with the building following the 2014-15 NHL season, the Islanders relocated to Brooklyn and the arena underwent a $165 million renovation which lasted nearly two years. The building re-opened on April 5, 2017 with a Billy Joel concert being the first event held after renovations.
Embed from Getty ImagesCurrently, NYCB Live’s anchor tenant is the Long Island Nets, a G-League basketball team and minor league affiliate of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. The arena also holds a wide variety of other events; ranging from the New York Open and other concerts to family-friendly events such as the circus and Monster Jam monster truck racing.
All of the Riptide’s home games are expected to be played at NYCB Live, with the arena’s capacity for lacrosse expected to be the same that it is for hockey games – about 13,900.
The Identity
A vote was held by the New York NLL team, allowing fans to choose the name of the newest professional indoor lacrosse team coming to the area. It was reported that the league had filed for four different trademarks to become the team’s name; those being New York Beacons, New York Force, New York Riptide and New York Saints, the previously mentioned original New York NLL franchise.
The fan vote, however, only allowed fans to choose between the first three trademarks, but also gave a write-in option. In the end, Riptide would be victorious and during the team’s name reveal, GF Sports Board Member Gary Fuhrman said that it was the “overwhelming choice” by the fans.
#RiptidePride #NYRiptide pic.twitter.com/C2ViLLC56S
— New York Riptide (@newyorkriptide) February 17, 2019
The team’s navy blue and orange colors resemble other teams in the area, most similarly to the Riptide’s part-time co-tenant of NYCB Live, the New York Islanders. The Riptide also add a seafoam green to its colors to “capture the signature Riptide feel,” according to the league website. The colors also closely match those of the Islanders from 1995-1997 when the team adopted the classic “Fisherman” logo.
As for the Riptide logo, it contains a lacrosse stick in swirling water, causing a riptide current in the waters surrounding the stick. It’s aimed to “reflect the unrelenting power of the team” ownership aspires to build.
The National Lacrosse League
The NLL is currently in its 22nd season since the MILL became the NLL in 1997. The league consists of 11 teams excluding newly added New York and Halifax; with teams located in Buffalo, NY; Calgary, AB; Denver, CO; Duluth, GA; Uncasville, CT; Philadelphia, PA; Rochester, NY; San Diego, CA; Saskatoon, SK; Toronto, ON and Vancouver, BC.
With the NLL adding two more teams next season, it brings the league closer to its long-term goal of 20 teams. According to the league website, the NLL’s Board of Governors have a five-year plan in place, and one of the “key pillars” of that plan is proper expansion. With Halifax and New York joining the league in just nine months, the National Lacrosse League becomes two steps closer to achieving that goal.
Loading ...Featured image credit @newyorkriptide:
https://twitter.com/newyorkriptide/status/1097201594314227712
