New Haven Ninjas

New Haven Ninjas
Established 2001
Folded 2002
Played in New Haven Coliseum
in New Haven, Connecticut
League/conference affiliations
af2 (2002)
  • American Conference (2002)
    • Northeast Division (2002)
Current uniform
Team colorsBlack, orange-red, yellow, white
       
Personnel
Owner(s)Charles Wang
Head coachRick Buffington[1]
Team history
  • New Haven Ninjas (2002)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)

The New Haven Ninjas were an indoor American football team based in New Haven, Connecticut. They were an expansion team in the af2 for the 2002 season.[2] On October 24, 2001, it was announced that Ninjas had won the name-the-team contest over Cyclones, Gladiators, Hawkeyes and ShoreDawgs.[3] Along with the Ninjas, New Haven was joined by the Albany Conquest, Bakersfield Blitz, Cape Fear Wildcats, Fresno Frenzy, Hawaiian Islanders, Mobile Wizards, Mohegan Wolves, San Diego Riptide & the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers. New Haven played in the American Conference of the Northeast Division. In 2002, the Ninjas finished 6–10, third in the Northeast Division. Still, that wasn't enough to play football in August. After the 2002 season, the Ninjas folded because the New Haven Coliseum closed, and the experiment for arena football in New Haven was done.

  1. ^ Fran Stuchbury (March 18, 2002). "Ninjas ready for af2 under Buffington". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  2. ^ "af2 adds New Haven, Connecticut". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. June 25, 2001. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  3. ^ "Ninja invasion begins in New Haven". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. October 24, 2001. Retrieved July 20, 2017.