Sports

Ontario Pro Soccer Team Hopes to Unleash Its Fury

Team officials hope the name represents the spirit of the Inland Empire.

Article by Bill Norris/Ontario Fury
For any new sports team, an important step in its growth is finding its identity.

Ontario Pro Indoor Soccer now has that identity.

The newest professional sports team in the Inland Empire is proud to announce that its name will be the ONTARIO FURY.

“We believe the name captures the spirit of the Inland Empire on so many different levels,” said team president/coach Bernie Lilavois. “We’ve found that fans in the region are very passionate about their sports teams – and soccer especially. And then there are the powerful elements that the area is known for – the heat, the wind. It also speaks to the energy that is growing as the Inland Empire expands into the best small sports market in the nation.

Find out what's happening in Claremont-La Vernewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“And Fury fit in with what we’re trying to build our team’s core principals around. We want to bring passion, power and a sense of Fury to everything our organization does. We want to be known for our relentless pursuit of bringing a championship to the Inland Empire.”

Fury was chosen out of a field of more than 500 entries submitted by fans in an online contest. The contest generated several potential names that were considered, but in the end, Fury rose above the rest.

Find out what's happening in Claremont-La Vernewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The team’s colors and logo were chosen to represent the team’s name, as well as representing the Inland Empire’s climate.

“Really time after time – and I think there was 300 total names – it stood out as an obvious choice because of the power behind it,” said Chris Wheeler, the President and Creative Director of Ignite Design & Advertising Inc., which created the logo and branding for the Fury. “It’s not angry Fury, but a powerful fury that is used for good. And that’s that eternal struggle in sports, striving for excellence with a fury unleashed.”

Matt Clarke, of Hesperia, and Frank Bustos, of Chino, submitted Fury in the name-the-team contest, and were declared co-winners of the grand prize. Both winners were awarded two midfield season tickets for the 2013-14 season, a personalized team jersey and the chance to take part in the ceremonial kickoff at a home game this season.

Additionally, another six people were randomly chosen to win team scarves. Those winners are: Annika Emmert (Eastvale), Juan Martinez (Montclair), Jesse Calderon (Rialto),

Micheal Burmeister (Racine, Wis.), Mariana Hevia-Cockrwll (Ontario) and Nestor Aparicio (San Bernardino).

The Ontario Fury will begin play at Ontario’s Citizens Business Bank Arena at 7 p.m. Oct. 26 with an exhibition game against a team to be announced, with its first Professional Arena Soccer League regular season game scheduled for Nov. 10.

A complete schedule will be released in the coming weeks, with the all-new OntarioFury.com launched in two weeks. Season tickets, starting as low as $90 per seat for the 10-game schedule, are on sale now. Contact the Ontario Fury at 909-240-5242 or by email at info@ontarioprosoccer.com



Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Claremont-La Verne