PBL welcomes Fall River to 2010-2011

03/12/2010 08:32 AM

PREMIER BASKETBALL LEAGUE WELCOMES FALL RIVER / NEW BEDFORD, MASS. TO 2010-11 SEASON



The Premier Basketball League, currently experiencing its third successful season, is pleased to announce that an ownership group from Fall River / New Bedford, Massachusetts is completing their final applications and is in the process of joining the PBL for the 2010-2011 season.



The team, South Coast United, will encompass the Fall River / New Bedford region of Southeastern Massachusetts.\\The ownership group is funded by businessman Michael Martin and talk show radio host Michael Herren, who played collegiate basketball at Boston College and is considered a local sports hero.\\Michael Martin was a state basketball champion with Fall River's Durfee High School; he also played baseball at Boston College, where he was a two-time All-American and a member of the Boston College Hall of Fame.\\Drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 1994, he played two years in their minor league farm system.\\Michael Herren was a three-time MVP at Durfee High School, as his teams were back-to-back state champions.\\He was a two-time Massachusetts Player of the Year and a two-time Gatorate New England Player of the Year.



“The South Coast United team name is derived from soccer team names like Manchester United and D.C. United,” said Martin.\\“Southeastern Massachusetts has a very large Portuguese-American community, and soccer in very big in this part of the state.\\Naming the team ‘South Coast United’ was a nice way to tie the community together with the name, joining the regions of Fall River and New Bedford.”



“It is with great pleasure that I write to you to you today to express my full support of bringing South Coast United as a member of the Premier Basketball League to the great city of Fall River,” said Fall River mayor William Flanagan.\\“I would be proud to host such a sports franchise in the community.”



The new team is scheduled to play their games in the Bank Street Armory in Fall River, a National Historic Site.\\The facility, which was built in 1897, has served as a recreation center, and was once the home court for Durfee High School's basketball teams.\\There has even been a groundswell of interest among hoops fans in the Fall River area, as the new ownership group has acquired over 1,000 followers on the social networking site Facebook.



“South Coast United is doing all the right things,” said Dr. Severko Hrywnak, Chairman of the Board of the Premier Basketball League.\\“They’re making sure they have everything in place; they have the support of the Fall River community, they have a building to play in, and they already have a fanbase ready for PBL basketball.\\Their location also creates close rivalries with our two New England-based teams, the Vermont Frost Heaves and the Manchester Millrats, and improves our commitment to the PBL in the Northeast.”



This will be the first professional basketball team in the Fall River / New Bedford area in over 100 years; the 1904-05 New England Basketball Association featured teams from both Fall River and New Bedford.



The Premier Basketball League is one of the top independent basketball leagues in North America.\\In its third season, the PBL’s teams are supported throughout the Northeastern and central United States, as well as in Puerto Rico and in eastern Canada.\\For more information on the Premier Basketball League, please visit their website at http://www.thepbl.com.