East Iowa Storm Preparing For Inaugural Home Game

A disturbance is building in the Cedar Valley's sports atmosphere and the forecast calls for the East Iowa Storm to hit Independence this weekend.

On Saturday, June 6, 2015, the Cedar Valley's newest football team plays the first of six scheduled home games at Lyle Leinbaugh Field. East Iowa’s home opener against the Midwest Titans kicks-off at 6 p.m. on the stadium field behind Independence Junior-Senior High School.

“The first home game is always special,” said Head Coach Tim Cummings. “It's a special feeling playing in front of your home crowd. The guys are excited. They are chopping at the bit.”

East Iowa is a semi-professional team that is scheduled to play 12 regular-season games in the Midwest Football League, a two-division circuit made up 14 teams stretching from Iowa to Oklahoma. With the exception of July 4, the Storm will play games on consecutive Saturday’s through Aug. 22. Post-season playoff games, including the league championship, are scheduled in September.

Cummings and Ryan Richmond, the Storm's business manager, began building the team in January, when open tryouts were held at the Cedar Valley SportsPlex in Waterloo. Practices for the 2015 campaign began in March.

“We put together a pretty solid crew of 40 good football players,” Cummings said. “Practices have been intense. We're on our way. We're doing well and we're ready to go.”

The Storm features a roster of 20 players from Waterloo. The rest are mainly from Cedar Falls, Denver, Dike, Dysart, Evansdale, Independence and Nashua. Although new, the team is filled with veterans of semi-pro football at nearly every position.

“We have a lot of talent on the defense side (of the ball), which is going to help keep the score low for the opponents,” Richmond said. “We also have a lot of talent on the offense side and our offensive coordinator is really good at adapting (to game situations). Our offensive line is a big group of guys – one of the bigger offensive lines in the league.

“We're going to be a running team and pass when we need to,” Richmond continued. “We want to put some points on the board and make it easier for the defense.”

The Storm (0-1) showed good potential in their inaugural game last weekend, playing on the road. East Iowa dropped an 18-12 decision to the Omaha Outlaws (1-0) in Ralston, Neb., after allowing a late fourth-quarter touchdown. It was a good debut for the start-up club, considering Omaha had several returnees from a team that finished 7-4 in 2014.

Richmond is encouraging area sports fans to support and embrace the Storm.

“We're hoping we can get that small-town high school atmosphere at our games,” he said. “We want the crowd to be loud. We want a 12th-man advantage that some of the other teams aren't going to have at their home field.”

Season passes are $30. Individual game tickets are $6 in advance or $8 at the door. All current or former military and teachers are always $6. Kids 12 & under are always FREE.

For tickets, team schedule and other information, click on the Storm’s website at www.eastiowastorm.com.