By RJ “The Bullish Brahma” Reid
Introduction
If you are a fan of alternative spring football and you live in the San Antonio area, then you have struck gold. The Alamo City already has the Gunslingers from the Indoor Football League and the Brahmas from the United Football League, but now there will be another team for fans to watch. It was announced back on May 14th that the International Football Alliance (IFA), a league comprised of teams from Mexico and the United States, would be coming to San Antonio starting in June 2025 and that legendary coach Hal Mumme would be the General Manager/Head Coach.
About the Team in San Antonio
At an informal press conference held on June 13th, media and fans alike were able to meet and greet Coach Mumme and ask questions. To begin the conference, Coach Mumme wanted to emphasize that this league will not be like other leagues around.
“Unlike other teams in this area, we are actually going to train here and live here.”
This is in stark contrast to the United Football League which operates in a hub model and the San Antonio Brahmas practice and live in the Arlington area. There is another football team in San Antonio that does live, train and practice locally, and that is the San Antonio Gunslingers of the Indoor Football League.
Steve Foley, a spokesperson for the IFA San Antonio team, envisions that this team will be San Antonio’s team, a team that they can embrace. He stated that he would like to have fans be shuttled back and forth from the game to downtown and have fiestas before and after the game.
“This is not going to be a semi-professional football team like other leagues,” Foley said. He wants the team and the community to embrace each other and be part of a family.
Coach Mumme stated that they are brining players from all around the world and that this league is not going to be a “fly-by-night operation.” He described the IFA has a professional developmental league and that it’s all about training future NFL players, getting players on tape for scouts to look at.
Open tryouts for San Antonio are scheduled for July 20th from 10:00am to 4:00pm, location has yet to be determined. The event will be streamed exclusively on RightNow TV, the broadcast partner of the IFA.
There are two League-wide tryouts scheduled. The first one is at Leto High School in Tampa, Florida on June 15th from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The second is being held at Desert Chapel High School in Palm Springs, California on June 30th from 4:00pm to 6:00pm. There is a $125 non-refundable fee for both events. Player’s performance will be shared with all the league teams. Coach Mumme is scheduled to attend the Palm Springs tryout.
Coach Mumme revealed the dates of the home games that will be played at Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium. The first home game will be June 7, followed by June 21, June 28, July 19 and August 2. He further stated that games will be played at night and echoed Foley’s statement that it will be a fiesta style event.
“Hopefully we will have local bands to play,” he said.
As far as the team’s name goes, Foley stated that they have three or four names in the running but wants the public to vote on the team’s name, and a poll will start sometime in July. They will also consider suggestions that fans will make.
About Head Coach Hal Mumme
Hal Mumme, a native of San Antonio, is a legendary coach with over 45 years of coaching experience, including head coaching stints at Kentucky and New Mexico State and serving as the Offensive Coordinator at SMU. Spring footballs fans would probably recognize him as the Offensive Coach for the Dallas Renegades of the XFL 2.0 league in 2020. Coach Mumme is widely known for being one of the founders of the air raid offense, which revolutionized football forever.
About Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium
The stadium is named after Gayle and Tom Benson who was from San Antonio and was a former owner of both the New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans. The stadium is home to the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals, a NCAA Division I (FCS) team, located just north of downtown San Antonio. The stadium opened on September 1, 2008, and after renovations in 2010, has a capacity of 6,000.
About the IFA
According to their website, the IFA is looking at bridging the gap in international professional football within the locations of Mexico and the United States. As of this writing, the IFA is comprised of eight teams, 5 from the United States and 3 from Mexico. The teams are the Dallas Pioneros, the Las Vegas Kings, the Alabama Beavers, the Tampa Bay Tornadoes, the Chihuahua Rebelion, the Cancun Sharks, the Tequileros de Jalisco and now San Antonio. The IFA will be implementing an NFL-style standard rules of play and each team will be comprised of a 53-man roster with at least 5 international players on each team. Players are expected to earn $400 per game with active quarterbacks making $1500 per game. For more information regarding the IFA, visit their website at www.ifa.football.