New Buffalo Blitz Indoor Football Team Announced, to Play at Buffalo RiverWorks

January 25, 2017 · No Comments

The Can-Am Indoor Football League is proud to announce the granting of a member franchise to an ownership group in Buffalo, New York headed by principal owners John Augustine and Bob Guenther. The pair posted a $500,000 proof of financial assets document to secure the new franchise. The home venue of the new Buffalo team will be Buffalo RiverWorks located at 359 Ganson Street in Buffalo.

Can-Am Indoor Football Commissioner Lawrence Fisher and Blitz Co-owner John Augustine

The announcement was made by CAIFL Commissioner Lawrence Fisher at an afternoon media session which also included Buffalo RiverWorks COO Bill Casale, Augustine, Guenther and members of the new Blitz team.

The inaugural season of the CAIFL includes teams from Burlington, Vermont; Baltimore, Maryland; Hartford, Connecticut; Manchester, New Hampshire; Rochester and Glens Falls, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Boston, Massachusetts; Niagara Falls, NY and Ontario. Regular season play begins in March of 2017 and the Buffalo Blitz first home game will be April 8th.

Tryouts for the new Buffalo team will take place Sunday January 29th at the AdPro training center located next to New Era Field from 1-3pm.

Both Guenther and Augustine have storied football careers in the Buffalo area. Guenther was the offensive coordinator of the Minor-Pro Champion Buffalo Gladiators, a team that Augustine quarterbacked for 20 years. Guenther was also a standout quarterback in high school, college and the JFK Touch Football League. He is a co-owner of Super Price Choppers, 1580 Genesee Street, owns a pizzeria in Eden and a grocery store in Erie, PA.

John Augustine also played for the Buffalo Gladiators, named League MVP 8 times as the Gladiators won multiple Championship. Augustine, a business teacher and coach at Lafayette High School, played in the European Professional Football League, was named All-American at Buffalo State College, is a Hall of Fame member of both Buffalo State and the JFK Touch Football League and holds virtually every Minor-Professional Football League passing record.

Guenther was also a standout quarterback in high school, college and the JFK Touch Football League. He is a co-owner of Super Price Choppers, 1580 Genesee Street, owns a pizzeria in Eden and a grocery store in Erie, PA.