NEW PHILADELPHIA- Professional basketball is returning to Schuylkill County.
This time, Dr. David J. Moylan III, who had spearheaded two past attempts, is the driving force behind the new team.
"Lessons were learned with the other attempts, which will help us make this team successful" said Moylan, the director of the Simon Kramer Cancer Institute in New Philadelphia.
The team, The New Philadelphia Firedogs, will compete in the United Basketball alliance, a semi-pro league spread throughout the northeast. The team's mascot will be a Dalmatian and a name-the-mascot contest will be coming in the near future.
Among the lessons learned with the Pottsville Stingers and successor Schuylkill River Rangers, according to Moylan, were the need to control expenses and the importance of including some local players.
"We're committed to fielding a local team," he said in an interview Wednesday; a press conference is planned Friday to introduce the coach, who will be a local person. "We think the talent is here in the county to field a competitive team."
While the name is the New Philadelphia Fire Dogs, Moylan emphasized it will be a "county team".
The main sponsor, Anthracite Region Athletic Against Tumors (ARAAT), is based out of Moylan's Kramer Institute.
The games will also serve as a fund-raiser, with proceeds going to the Road to Recovery Fund, which provides free transportation for cancer patients in Schuylkill and Carbon counties who are unable to drive themselves to treatment or appointments.
"We want new Philadelphia to become synonymous with cancer care," said Moylan. "This is a great opportunity to get the name out there."
in addition to encouraging a local following, fielding local players had another benefit, according to Moylan.
"The other teams just get together for the weekend and play a game," he said. "With a local team, we can get together for practices a few nights a week and really mesh as a unit."
The Idea is that this will allow the team to develop a tough defense, uncommon in these semi-pro leagues, which typically feature run-and-gun games that often exceed 100 points for each side.
Dates for tryouts will be announced in the near future, but Moylan said a number of players have expressed interest.
When it comes to expenses, the biggest cost in the past was renting a facility for the games.
That, however, won't be a problem this year because the Kramer Institute is located at the former Blythe Township High School, which had a full-size gym and a 1,000 fan seating capacity.
In addition to the bleacher seating, Moylan said there will be courtside executive boxes and skyboxes high above the court. There will even be waitresses serving food to the skyboxes.
"We'll be able to control the consessions, something else we weren't able to do when we rented facilities," the owner said.
The league commissioner recented visited and said the facilities compare with others in the league.
the team's general manager will be Jeffery Zemencik, a former Schuylkill Haven prep star. As to the coach, "people in the county will recognize who he is," assured Moylan.
The current NBA lockout if it lasts until January when the Fire Dogs are scheduled to begin play, will help the team draw fans, the owner predicted.
"The die-hard basketball fans will be in withdrawal by the time we start in January," said Moylan.
The United basketball Alliance is the result of the merger of two leagues, the Eastern Basketball Alliance and Atlantic Basketball Association.
The league will feature six teams. In addition to the Fire Dogs, they are the Harrisburg Horizion, the Delaware Blue Bombers, the Lancaster Storm, the Morris (NJ) Revolution, and the Springfield (MASS.) Slamm.
This is the third attempt to bring pro basketball to the county.
Five years ago, the Stingers, based in Martz Hall, played in the Atlantic basketball Asociation; two years ago, the River Rangers, based at the Orwigsburg Memorial Building, participated in the Eastern Basketball Alliance.