DaytonDailyNews.com

BELLBROOK — The Miami Valley Warriors semi-pro football team will have a new league and a new home field in 2009.

The Warriors will play their home games at Bellbrook's Miami Valley South Stadium at 7 p.m. on Saturday nights from May 30 until September. They spent the past two years playing at Yellow Springs.

"It's a team made up of coaches and players who just love the game, players from age 18 to 43, with high school, some college, some professional football experience," assistant coach Tony Martin said. "We've got government workers, skilled trade workers, salesmen, policemen, teachers, about 10 guys who are active military, you name it."

The team covers most of the Miami Valley, with players from Troy, Wayne, Trotwood, Fairmont, Xenia, Miamisburg and a host of other schools on the roster.

The Warriors, guided by former Stebbins coach Greg Agee, went 7-2 in the regular season last year, losing in the second round of the Interstate Football League playoffs. It was their fourth straight winning season.

This year, they've switched to the United States Football Alliance, which has 34 teams from Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. They'll play home-and-home series with five other teams, all within 90 minutes of the Dayton area.

Martin and Agee said the team has plenty of talent, including two running backs who were finalists for the NCAA Division III player of the year award — Tristan Murray of Wittenberg (2006) and Krishaun Gilmore of RPI (1998).

They've also got experience. Fullback/defensive lineman Brent Lewis said he's in his 14th year of football, from Wilmington College, to the Dayton Steelers, Central Ohio Lions and now the Warriors.

"It's great to have an opportunity to still play something that's been such an integral part of your life for so many years," said Lewis, who works for Greene County Children Services.

Linebacker Elvin Blackmon personifies the juggling act required to keep playing, calling himself "active duty military, college student, father, husband and teammate. ... But being around a team, it's another family," he said.

The Warriors will play a minimum of five home games at Bellbrook. Tickets are $3 to $5, and Martin said the team is trying to get local businesses, schools and youth groups involved to make games more of a community event. They plan promotions for YMCA members, pee-wee football teams and Bellbrook schools.

For more information about the Warriors, including a roster listing players' local ties, visit www.miamivalleywarriors.com.