click to enlarge Christopher Boan

The Tucson Indoor Football League team will play its games inside the Tucson Arena downtown next spring.

The 10-year-old Indoor Football League introduced its seventh and newest club inside the cavernous Tucson Arena on Thursday afternoon.The to-be-named squad, which will take to the artificial turf inside the venerable arena for the league's 2019 regular season, will be the Old Pueblo's first professional indoor football team.A quartet of people responsible for the team's inception, including owners Kevin and Kathy Guy and longtime Tucson attorney Ali Farhang brimmed with excitement about the team's prospects going forward at the ceremony.The co-owners trumpeted the league's adrenaline-fueled, family-friendly gameday atmosphere, calling the development a win for the arena and downtown corridor as a whole.Kevin Guy, who has coached the Arizona Rattlers of the IFL since 2008, was the first to bring up the possibility of adding a Tucson team to the league a year ago.Guy, who's led the Phoenix-based Rattlers to eight playoff appearances and six Arena Football League and Indoor Football League championships, praised the city for its efforts in negotiating a deal that's fair for all."This is going to be great for the state of Arizona," Guy told the crowd. "So, I appreciate this support and allowing this to happen."Longtime Tucson professional sports figure and team Executive Director Mike Feder, who previously worked with the Tucson Padres, believes the team will be a smashing success.He hopes to see 7,000 people decked in the team's colors when the IFL's regular season starts in March, 2019.He believes the Tucson community is ready and willing to answer the call."We need people to help us with that," Feder said. "But, you know, it's a labor of love for me. I just enjoy what I do. And when I have the ability to help people out, raise money, create entertainment, that makes me feel good."Feder says his experience in professional sports prevents him from being nervous or anxious about getting everything done in time for the 2019 season.He believes the team will be ready to roll come March and that the city will be ready to showcase its passion for the indoor game."If experience provides you anything it shows you how to get it done. You don't get scared by the timeline," Feder said. "Those things don't bother me. We've got to get out knocking on doors. We've got to talk to sponsors, on the corporate side we've got to talk to season ticket people, we've got to talk to groups. We're going to do it. We're just going to be committed and we're going to do it."Fans can help name the team and put down a $50 season ticket deposit on the team's website, tucsonindoorfootball.com