The Alabama Soccer League

[RevNet]

We're climbing high up for the next team in the Central East.

 

Mount Cheaha SC

Team Colors: Sky High Blue (Pantone 4150 C), Watchtower Red (Pantone 7620 C), Stone White (Pantone 9080 C)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

At 2,413 ft., Cheaha Mountain, or its more common name of Mount Cheaha, is Alabama's highest natural point. The nearest town to the peak of Cheaha State Park is actually a town named Delta, but the next best option is Lineville, in Clay County, which has a population of just under 2,500. The highest point of Mount Cheaha is marked with a USGS benchmark in front of Bunker Tower, a stone Civilian Conservation Corps building with an observation deck on top. Immediately adjacent to Bunker Tower is the transmitter for WCIQ, which is the oldest of Alabama Public Television's nine stations, having first started transmissions on January 7th, 1955. WCIQ serves the Anniston/Gadsden/Heflin areas with APT and PBS programming.

 

The logo design starts out with a black-outlined blue shield design which is inspired by the shield used by the U.S. Forest Service, which governs the Shoal Creek part of the Talladega National Forest, which Cheaha State Park is a part of. Inside the shield is a recreation of Bunker Tower, along with the text of the team name that completes the design. The colors are inspired by the scenery around Bunker Tower. The primary kit, "The Sky High Kit", is an all-blue kit with white detailing and a thin red chevron on the chest of the shirt. The secondary kit, "The Bunker Tower Kit", consists of a solid white shirt with a red collar and red detailing. The kit is made complete with red shorts with white detailing and white shorts with red detailing.

 

The sponsor of the team, Wellborn Cabinet, is a company that builds cabinets for kitchens and bathrooms. It is headquartered in nearby Ashland.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is Hugo Black, the Clay County native who became a U.S. Senator from 1927-1937, then became an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937-1971.

[RevNet]

Let's visit Alabama's version of Beverly Hills.

 

Mountain Brook SC

Team Colors: Forest Green (Pantone 7484 C), Shield Gold (Pantone 123 C), Sword Gray (Pantone 656 C)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

Just a little to the northeast of Homewood is the Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook which has a population of around 22,500. Settled along the ridges of Red Mountain and Shades Mountain, Mountain Brook was originally developed as a whites-only suburb in 1929 by real-estate businessman Robert Jemison, Jr. It was then incorporated in 1942 by landscape architect Warren H. Manning, who had plans for estate-sized lots along winding scenic roads and denser commercial development centering on three picturesque "villages": English Village, Mountain Brook Village, and Crestline Village. Mountain Brook is also the site of the first-ever office park in the country which was built in 1955. Mountain Brook has a tree cover of 92.03 percent, one of the highest ratios in the country. According to a list compiled in 2008 by Stephen Higley, it is the ninth wealthiest community in the nation. Mountain Brook is often called "The Tiny Kingdom" due to the high concentration of the region's business and professional leaders that call it home.

 

The logo design is an oval roundel that is inspired by the city seal that provides the gray color of the team. The full team name in gold text occupies the dark green outer roundel. The green "MB" monogram on the gray inner roundel completes the design. The green and gold colors come from the Mountain Brook High School Spartans athletic teams, who also provide MBSC's primary nickname. The primary kit, "The M.B. Spartan Kit", consists of a shirt with a green body, gold collar, and gold sleeves. The kit is made complete with gold shorts with green detailing, and green socks with gold detailing. The secondary kit, "The Sword Kit", is an all-gray kit with a green collar on the shirt and green detailing throughout.

 

The sponsor of the team is the Birmingham Zoo which lies in between Mountain Brook and Homewood.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is actress and filmmaker Courteney Cox, who is most well-known as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends. Cox was born in Birmingham and went to and graduated from Mountain Brook High School.

 

[RevNet]

Never has a word change in team names meant so much.

 

Mountain Town SC

Team Colors: Mountain Black (Black),  Wildcat Gold (Pantone 4255 C), Sock White (White)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

For me to discuss the team above, there are two nicknames that you need to know when we're talking about Fort Payne, DeKalb County's largest city and county seat with a population of just under 15,000. The first nickname, "Alabama's Mountain Town", is where we get the team name from. Fort Payne is situated in a narrow valley on Big Wills Creek with Lookout Mountain to its east and Sand Mountain to its west. I've been to Fort Payne plenty of times and it really does feel like you're closed in a little more than in other cities. Before it was Fort Payne, it was an important Cherokee town named Willstown, named after its headman Will Weber, who was born to Cherokee and German parents and was known for his striking red hair. It was in Willstown that in 1821, silversmith Sequoyah created the Cherokee syllabary, one of the few systems created by an individual from a pre-literature culture. With the Cherokee syllabary, the town published The Cherokee Phoenix, which was the first newspaper published by Native Americans in the United States.

 

The second nickname comes from Fort Payne's time as the "Sock Capital of the World", which is arguably still ongoing. Hosiery production in Fort Payne began at the W.B. Davis Hosiery Mill in 1907. At the beginning of the 21st century, nearly half the world's production of socks was produced by the over 7,000 people that were still employed in the 100+ mills that made up Fort Payne's hosiery industry. Zkano, this team's sponsor, continues this long-standing tradition by also producing the team's socks in its Fort Payne mill in a special deal with Kappa, the team's kit supplier.

 

The rather simple logo design is a pair of black mountains with the team name in beige at the bottom. The black and beige colors come from the Fort Payne High School Wildcats athletic teams, while the white comes from the cotton used in the socks made in Fort Payne. The primary kit, "The Sock Capital Kit", is an all-beige kit with a white sash across the front of the shirt and black detailing throughout. The secondary kit, "The Mountain Town Kit", is an all-black kit with a beige sash across the front of the shirt and beige detailing throughout.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is Randy Owen, the lead singer of country rock supergroup Alabama, which was formed in Fort Payne in 1969. The band has amassed 12 top-10 albums and over 40 #1 hits, including at least one #1 hit in every year of the 80s.

[Bomba Tomba]

You and the creator of the Oregon league should both simulate a season in any way, determine a champion, then make a special jersey for the clash of the two champions

[RevNet]

On 4/12/2023 at 9:19 PM, Bomba Tomba said:

You and the creator of the Oregon league should both simulate a season in any way, determine a champion, then make a special jersey for the clash of the two champions

 

I'm up for it if @TheGiantsFan is. Anyway, going back to the Birmingham Metro Conference for our next team.

 

North Birmingham SC

Team Colors: Venetian Red (Pantone 187 C), Cast Iron Black (Black)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

This team is the closest team to a true Birmingham team that you'll get in the ALSL. For eight years from 1902 to 1910, North Birmingham was a city in its own right. While considering annexing the area to its south, North Birmingham was annexed instead during the Greater Birmingham campaign of 1910, despite a 127-122 vote to remain independent. Today, North Birmingham is a community that is further divided into the following six neighborhoods: Acipco-Finley, Collegeville, Fairmont, Harriman Park, Hooper City, and North Birmingham. Like other places in the Birmingham area, North Birmingham did and still does its fair share of producing iron. During the eight years that it was a city, one of North Birmingham's highlights was the founding of the American Cast Iron Pipe Company (ACIPCO for short, which is also where Acipco-Finley gets part of its name from) on October 9, 1905. While North Birmingham is no longer a city, the company still exists and it is this team's sponsor.

 

The logo design is a "welding" of the red letters "N" and "B" with the black "S" and "C" letters acting as the places where the two red letters are welded together. The red color comes from the use of iron(III) oxide in the production of iron, while the black comes from the cast iron pipes made by ACIPCO. The primary kit, "The North of Magic City Kit", is an all-red kit with a black collar and a singular, black hoop on the shirt and black detailing throughout. The secondary kit, "The Ironmen Kit", is an all-white kit with a red collar on the shirt and red detailing throughout.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is James Withers Sloss, who was the founder of the nearby Sloss Furnaces, which eventually became the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company. He is also considered one of the founders of Birmingham. The Sloss Furnaces are now part of a National Historic Landmark and it was recently a featured venue in the 2022 World Games, where it held the competitions for sport climbing, breaking, parkour, and beach handball.

 

[TrueYankee26]

Oh yeah that would be fun 

[TheGiantsFan]

18 hours ago, RevNet said:

On 4/12/2023 at 7:19 PM, Bomba Tomba said:

You and the creator of the Oregon league should both simulate a season in any way, determine a champion, then make a special jersey for the clash of the two champions

I'm up for it if @TheGiantsFan is.

 

Count me in! Don't forget my California leagues as well  

 

I don't know how to do it myself, but I'm sure someone could whip up Football Manager or something to get this to happen. 

 

---

 

I gotta say, there's a lotta fun color schemes and unique logos on here! My favorites have been Easternmost, Enterprise, Florence United, and Lamar County.

[CheshireCat303]

3 hours ago, TheGiantsFan said:

 

Count me in! Don't forget my California leagues as well  

 

I don't know how to do it myself, but I'm sure someone could whip up Football Manager or something to get this to happen. 

 

---

 

I gotta say, there's a lotta fun color schemes and unique logos on here! My favorites have been Easternmost, Enterprise, Florence United, and Lamar County.

You may laugh but I was actually thinking about implementing all 3 (4) leagues into football manager. 

Making all those kits its an insane amount of work though

[RevNet]

Thanks for all the engagement so far. This was a lot of work these past few months, and I'm glad everyone is enjoying it all.

 

Well, wouldn't you know it, it looks like the third time's the charm with these directional county teams (RIP County South SC and East Shelby SC).

 

North Calhoun SC

Team Colors: Jacksonville Navy (Pantone 534 C), Gamecock Red (Pantone 200 C), Golden Eagle Gold (Pantone 437 C),

Collegiate White (White)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

For this team, it's best to think of the Calhoun County city of Jacksonville as a small-scale version of a Southern collegiate town like Tuscaloosa or Auburn. The land that Jacksonville sits on was purchased in 1833 from "Du-Hoag" Ladiga, a Creek Indian chief. The town was first called Drayton, but just a year later in 1834, the town was renamed Jacksonville to honor President Andrew Jackson. The college and the sponsor of the team, Jacksonville State University (Jax State or JSU for short), was founded in 1883 as Jacksonville State Normal School. Jacksonville served as the county seat until the 20th century when it was moved south to Anniston.

 

The logo design is of two resting birds facing opposing directions. The bigger bird is a golden eagle with navy plumage, and it represents the Jacksonville High School Golden Eagles athletic teams. The smaller bird is a red-and-white gamecock, and it represents the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks athletic teams. These mascots are combined to form the "Double Trouble" nickname for North Calhoun SC.

 

The primary kit, "The Jax State Kit", has a shirt with a red body and red-and-white hoops on the sleeves. The kit is made complete with red shorts with white detailing and white socks with red detailing. The secondary kit, "The Jax High Kit", has a recoloring of the primary shirt. Wherever there was red, now there is navy. Wherever there was white, now there is gold. The kit is made complete with gold shorts with navy detailing and navy socks with gold detailing.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is Rick Bragg, who was born in nearby Piedmont and grew up in the Possum Trot community near Jacksonville. Bragg is an author of non-fiction books that are mainly about his family In Alabama. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996 while working for the New York Times.

 

[RevNet]

Heading across the state now for team #6 in the Central West.

 

Northport SC

Team Colors: Deep River Blue (Pantone 282 C),  Northport Light Blue (Pantone 278 C)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

The Tuscaloosa County city of Northport was founded in 1816 as Kentuck, renamed in 1832, and incorporated in 1871. It lies just across the Black Warrior River from the city of Tuscaloosa. The original Kentuck (or Canetuck) name came from the large stands of cane in the area when the town was first settled in 1813. With a population of 31,125, Northport has the 17th-largest population in the state. Like the state capital of Montgomery, Northport is also well-known for its arts scene, particularly the Kentuck Art Center & Festival. The two-day Festival takes place every October, while the Art Center has a year-round schedule of events such as workshops, art nights, and exhibitions.

 

The logo design is a dark blue shield with light blue crossed anchors, a white letter "N" on top, the "SC" text across the center and a white outline map of Tuscaloosa County with the location of Northport marked by a four-pointed star that completes the design. The two blue colors come from the athletic teams of Northport's two high schools: the Tuscaloosa County High School Wildcats to the city's north and the Northside High School Rams in the Samantha area, which is even further north of TCHS. The primary kit, "The Sky Blue Kit", is an all-light blue kit with a dark blue collar on the shirt and dark blue detailing throughout. The secondary kit, "The Deep Water Blue Kit", is a total color reversal of the primary kit.

 

The sponsor of the team, Peco Foods, is a leading supplier of poultry products headquartered in nearby Tuscaloosa.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is Le'Ron McClain. Although born in Fort Wayne, IN, he played football as a fullback for the Wildcats of Tuscaloosa County High School. He would go on to play for Alabama and also have a seven-year career in the NFL, playing for the Ravens, Chiefs, and Chargers during his time. His last jersey number was #44.

[RevNet]

It's all about Troy today. With the team below, the Wiregrass Conference is complete.

 

Old Trojans SC

Team Colors: University Cardinal (Pantone 202 C), Helmet Silver (Pantone Warm Gray 1 C), Plume Black (Black)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

As the county seat of Pike County in southeastern Alabama, the city of Troy has a population of just under 18,000. It was first settled in 1824 originally as a Creek Indian hunting ground named Deer Stand Hill. It was then renamed to Zebulon, then Centreville before settling on its present name of Troy in 1838. For a long while, the only things associated with Troy and Pike County were being the sites of battles in the Creek War of 1836 (Battle of Hobdy's Bridge and the Battle of Pea River) and the U.S. Civil War (Skirmish at Hobdy's Bridge). But today, all that is associated with Troy is the eponymous Troy University, which has become the fourth-largest university in the state by attendance after Alabama, Auburn, and UAB.

 

The logo design starts out with a silver-outlined cardinal shield shape which is inspired by the shields the Trojans of antiquity used in battles such as the famous Trojan War. The big "O" (for "Old") surrounds a depiction of a silver Trojan helmet with black plumage. Completing the design are four black rivets (which represent Troy University's four campus locations at Troy (main campus), Dothan, Montgomery, and Phenix City) and the vertical "TSC" text, which stands for "Trojans Soccer Club" to complete the team name of Old Trojans SC, but can also stand for "Troy State College", one of Troy University's former names. The idea behind this team is that after you graduate from Troy University, you become an "Old Trojan" and therefore can join the team.

 

The primary kit, "The Colors of Troy Kit", consists of a cardinal shirt with a black-silver-black hoop pattern along the center of the front. The kit is made complete with silver shorts with cardinal detailing, and cardinal socks with silver detailing. The secondary kit, "The Trojan Trucker's Kit", consists of a silver shirt with a black collar, black detailing, and a singular, red stripe in the center that was dictated by the sponsor of the team, Wiley Sanders Truck Lines, Inc., which is a trucking company headquartered in Troy. The kit is made complete with black shorts with silver detailing and silver socks with black detailing.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is Willie Davenport, the American sprint runner that was born in Troy and won an Olympic gold medal in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City in the 110m Hurdles event.

[RevNet]

It looks like it'll be a rough one today, y'all. Get to your shelters ASAP.

 

Pickens County SC

Team Colors: Reform Maroon (Pantone 4102 C), Tempest Gray (Pantone 4293 C), Cloud White (White)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

Unlike the other teams that were sacrificed, this team only had to change locations within the county. The original plan was for this team to be placed in the city of Aliceville, but there were a couple of problems when I was putting the team together. The problems were rooted in the fact that I was creating a team for the city of Reform, and I was trying my best to put it in Aliceville. In the end and as you'll see, I let nature take its course and moved it to Reform.

 

Almost all of the state of Alabama falls under the Dixie Alley area that sometimes gets strong to violent tornadoes. I have been very fortunate to not have been personally affected by one of these tornadoes, although one EF2 tornado during the Easter 2020 outbreak did touchdown on a neighborhood in my hometown. That is the closest I personally have ever been. Those living in Pickens County in west Alabama, on the other hand, aren't as lucky. As of late, the county seems to get at least one tornado every couple of years. For its part, the small town of Reform seem to have embraced the tornadoes that come through. Heck, their high school's mascot is a tornado, which is where this team gets all of its identity from.

 

The logo design is a gray-outlined maroon rounded triangle (like a Yield sign) with a graphic representation of a dark gray tornado in the center and the team name in white around the outside that completes the design. The primary kit, "The Tempest Kit", consists of a maroon-and-gray shirt with a funky hoop pattern that resembles a tornado in action. The kit is made complete with maroon shorts and socks, both with white detailing. The secondary kit, "The Afterstorm Kit", consists of a white-to-dark gray gradient shirt with a maroon collar which is meant to resemble the sky after some rough weather comes through. The kit is made complete with dark gray shorts with white detailing and white socks with maroon detailing.

 

The sponsor of the kit, West Alabama Bank & Trust, is a banking business headquartered in Reform.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is Michael Williams, who was born and raised in Reform, played as a tight end for the Tornadoes of Pickens County High School, and is currently the head football coach there. He also has played for Alabama and played for the Detroit Lions and the New England Patriots in the NFL.

 

[RevNet]

Out of all the teams in the league, this team below is the one that I'm the most nervous about. Only because I want to get it right. Also with the team below, the Gulf Coast Conference is complete.

 

Poarch Creek SC

Team Colors: Flag Green (Pantone 6164 C*), Divine Yellow (Pantone Yellow C), War Red (Pantone 4059 C),

Life White (White)

*CMYK equivalent used instead

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

This team is not so much about the location that it is in, but rather the people that it represents. First, a little bit about the Escambia County city of Atmore. Incorporated in 1907, Atmore was first recorded as a stop named Williams Station on the Mobile & Great Northern Railroad. It was initially going to be named "Carney", in honor of a prominent citizen who owned a sawmill in town. Since there already was a town nearby with that name, however, it was instead named in honor of C.P. Atmore, General Passenger Agent of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Although named in his honor, he never stepped in the town once. Atmore is not the county seat for Escambia County, but it does have the county's largest population at ~8,300.

 

What Atmore is better known for now is being the headquarters of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, who are Alabama's only federally recognized tribe of Native Americans. Formerly named the Creek Nation East of the Mississippi, the members of the tribe are the descendants of those Muscogee Creek Indians that intermarried Scottish and Irish traders. Because of conflicts with other Creeks, ancestors of the Poarch Band petitioned the Creek Nation to migrate to lands in the southwest of Creek Nation territory in the early 1800s near the Tensaw River and the headwaters of the Perdido River. Some of these ancestors of the tribe helped the Americans in the Creek War of 1813–1814 against the rebelling Creek "Red Sticks". Despite the Indian Removal Act of 1830, many of these ancestors and families stayed in Alabama and, under the Treaty of Fort Jackson, were allowed to select four sections of land that would serve as the nucleus of the modern Poarch Band of Creek Indian community, including the "McGhee Reserve," a 240-acre tract that would serve as the center of this community. In 1984, after facing great poverty and discrimination throughout the rest of the 19th and a majority of the 20th century, the Poarch Band became one of the first tribes to achieve federal status through the federal process which had been created only six years earlier.

 

The logo design, along with the yellow, red and white colors of the team, is loosely based on the tribe's logo, starting off with a yellow outer roundel with a red-and-white cross in the middle of the inner roundel, both of which contain the full team name. The two feathers (one red and one white) on either side of the roundel complete the design. The primary kit, "The One Tribe, One Flag Kit", consists of a green shirt with yellow detailing and yellow pinstripes on the body and sleeves. The collar on the shirt has a yellow-green-yellow striping pattern, making it the only collar in the whole league to feature such a pattern. The green color is based on the tribe's flag. The kit is made complete with yellow shorts with green detailing and green socks with yellow detailing. The secondary kit, "The Warriors of Alabama Kit", consists of a primarily white shirt with red detailing and red striping throughout the front and back. The kit is made complete with red shorts with white detailing and white socks with red detailing.

 

The sponsor of the team is the Wind Creek Casino & Hotel in Atmore, which is owned by the tribe through their Wind Creek Hospitality company.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is Stephanie Bryan, who is the current tribal chairwoman.

[RevNet]

 

Yeah, it's a news report, and it gets a bit cheesy, but hey, just in case you haven't heard, Space Camp is back!

 

Rocket City SC

Team Colors: Space Blue (Pantone 4153 C), Star White (White), NASA Red (Pantone 1788 C)

Team Secondary Color: Spacesuit Orange (Pantone 7578 C)

 

Spoiler

We have made it to the new big guy in the state: Huntsville, Alabama, which has quite the list of accolades throughout its history. At a population of ~215,000, Huntsville is Alabama's most populous city. It is also the county seat of Madison County. As mentioned earlier in the thread, Huntsville is also the oldest city in the state, having been founded in 1805 by LeRoy Pope, who initially named it Twickenham after the home village of his distant kinsman Alexander Pope. It was changed to Huntsville in 1811, given the anti-British sentiment leading up to the War of 1812. Huntsville is also the oldest city in Alabama to be incorporated, having done so in 1811.

 

Huntsville is also known as "The Rocket City" for its close association with U.S. space missions, and it is all thanks to one guy by the name of Dr. Wernher von Braun. Along with 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians, Wernher von Braun was brought over from Nazi Germany to first settle at Fort Bliss in Texas and then along with 1,000 of these same Germans, he was brought over to Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal under the 14-year-long Operation Paperclip (1945-1959). Some land was carved out from Redstone Arsenal in order to form NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) on July 1, 1960. Wernher von Braun became the first director of the MSFC and he held the job for the next decade, during which he was instrumental in NASA's early successes and the development of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, which was established in 1965 and opened in 1970. Von Braun also developed the idea of a Space Camp (featured in the above GMA video) that would train children in fields of science and space technologies, as well as help their mental development much the same way sports camps aim at improving physical development. Dr. Von Braun is also the namesake of Huntsville's Von Braun Center, which opened on March 14, 1975.

 

The logo design is a roundel based on NASA's seal, while the numbering and lettering on both kits are based on NASA's more famous wordmark. The full team name in red occupies the outer white roundel, while a white rocket and seven stars occupy the inner blue roundel for a complete design. The seven stars represent the fact that Huntsville is surrounded by seven hills/mountains (Monte Sano, Huntsville, Green, Chapman, Rainbow, Ward, and Weeden).

 

The primary kit, "The Spacesuit/Grissom Kit", is an all-orange kit with a black collar on the shirt and black detailing throughout. The orange and black colors on the kit come from the Virgil I. Grissom High School Tigers athletic teams. The high school is one of six high schools in Huntsville and is named after the astronaut that was killed in the Apollo 1 fire at Cape Kennedy, Florida on January 27, 1967. The orange color is also a common color of the spacesuits that astronauts wear. The secondary kit, "The Spacesuit/Huntsville Kit", is an all-white kit with a red collar on the shirt and red detailing throughout. The red, white, and blue colors of the team come from the Huntsville High School Panthers athletic teams. White is also a common color of spacesuit that you'll see astronauts wear.

 

The sponsor of the team, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, is a Toyota engine manufacturing plant in Huntsville.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is none other than Tallulah Bankhead, who had an illustrious career on stage, in film, and on TV. She is perhaps most well-known as Constance "Connie" Porter in Alfred Hitchcock's 1944 film Lifeboat. Bankhead was born in Huntsville.

[RevNet]

Welcome home! (Well, as close as this league gets anyway.) With the team below, the Appalachian Conference is complete.

 

Sand Mountain Lakers SC

Team Colors: Mountain Green (Pantone 7733 C), Heart Red (Pantone 199 C), Laker Blue (Pantone 2197 C)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

This is the team that started this whole league up. At least the name, anyway. For a little while, I couldn't come up with a good logo idea for this team. But when I realized what Albertville bills itself as today, the whole team was easy to put together, logo and all. The city of Albertville is neither too young or too old, having been first settled in the 1850s and named after Thomas A. Albert, an early settler from Georgia who became a prominent town leader until his death in 1876. Albertville was incorporated in 1891, but on April 24, 1908, "The Cyclone of 1908" almost took out the city for good, killing 15 of its citizens in the process. Relief came via railroad from Gadsden. Back in 1893, the state legislature passed an act which allowed for an agriculture college to be built in each of the state's congressional districts. Albertville was awarded one for the Seventh District and that school is today known as Albertville High School, whose mascot is still the "Aggies", due to its history as an agriculture school. On April 24, 2010, exactly 102 years after "The Cyclone of 1908", an EF3 tornado ripped through downtown Albertville. While there were no deaths, the high school was severely damaged.

 

If you want to know a lot more about Albertville's more recent history, mainly the last 30 years or so, I would recommend listening to the award-winning "Our Town" series of the This American Life podcast. Released in December 2017, there are two episodes in all, and they both last about an hour each. Part 1 is mainly about Albertville's chicken plants, their workers, and how Albertville suddenly transformed from a city with a 98% White population into one where one out of every four citizens was Hispanic. Part 2 discusses life in Albertville outside of the chicken plants, the politics involved in such, and how it all played out in the end.

 

The logo design is a heart-shaped roundel with nothing occupying the outer red heart. On the inner heart is a scene of a pair of mountains in the background and a lake in the foreground. The team name is split into "Sand Mountain" in the sky on top and "Lakers SC" (the team's short name) on the mountains to complete the design. The heart shape is derived from Albertville's nickname as "The Heart of Sand Mountain". The red color comes from the Albertville High School Aggies athletic teams (the other AHS color is black). The lake is of course Lake Guntersville, which at 69,100 acres is Alabama's largest lake and of which Albertville is close to. The primary kit, "The Mountain Laker Kit", consists of a green shirt with a sky blue collar and sky blue detailing. The kit is made complete with sky blue shorts and socks, both with green detailing. The secondary kit, "The Albertville Aggie Kit", consists of a white shirt with a red collar and red detailing. The kit is made complete with red shorts and socks, both with white detailing.

 

The sponsor of the team, Mueller, is a Chattanooga-based manufacturer of fire hydrants that still has a presence in Albertville, earning Albertville the moniker of "Fire Hydrant Capital of the World" in 1991.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is NFL Hall-of-Famer John Allen "Hog" Hannah. Although born in Canton, GA, he was raised in Albertville and played for the Aggies football team as a Guard. He would go on to play for Alabama and the New England Patriots. Hannah would become the first Patriot to be entered into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1991, along with becoming the first inductee into the Patriots' own Hall of Fame in the same year. His lone jersey number was #73.

[RevNet]

Starting tomorrow, it's back to normal time for uploading these teams. In the meanwhile, let's honor these marchers.

 

Selma City SC

Team Colors: Selma Sky Blue (Pantone 2190 C), Saint Yellow (Pantone 107 C)

Team Secondary Colors: Panther Black (Black), Southside Red (Scarlet)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

With a population of just under 18,000, the city of Selma is the county seat of Dallas County in central south Alabama. Having been incorporated in 1820, politician William R. King settled and planned the city, naming it after the Ossianic poem, "The Songs of Selma". It was a trading center and market town during the King Cotton days of the antebellum. The Confederacy was defeated during the Battle of Selma in the final full month of the Civil War. However, what Selma is probably best known for is as the starting point of the three Selma-to-Montgomery marches in March 1965 during the later years of the civil rights movement. These marches were done in response to the shooting death of deacon and civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson one month earlier in nearby Marion. The first of these marches took place on March 7th in what would later be known as "Bloody Sunday", due to 17 of the up to 600 marchers being hospitalized, with a further 50 being treated for lesser injuries. Around 8,000 people were on hand for the third and final march on March 21st. These marches led to the hastening of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which would be signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson in August of that year. Since then, there have been many commemorative marches which usually occur on or around the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday".

 

The logo design is a blue oval shape with a depiction of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, made famous by these marches. The team name text in yellow on the bottom completes the design. The blue and yellow colors come from the Selma High School Saints athletic teams. The primary kit, "The Kit For When We Saints Go Marching In", consists of a shirt in which the upper body and sleeves are blue, while the lower body and sleeves are yellow. The kit is made complete with blue shorts and yellow socks. The secondary kit, "The Southside Panthers Kit", consists of a solid black shirt with a red collar and red detailing. The kit is made complete with red shorts with black detailing and black socks with red detailing. The black and red colors come from the nearby Southside (Selma) High School Panthers athletic teams.

 

The sponsor of the team, Bush Hog, is a manufacturer of landscaping tools headquartered in Selma.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is folklorist Kathryn Tucker Windham, who is most well-known as the author of the 1969 book entitled13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. Windham was born and died in Selma.

 

[RevNet]

Let's all record a song as we head back to the Shoals.

 

Shoals Swampers SC

Team Colors: 3614 Jackson Highway Blue (Pantone 3584 C), Swamper Green (Pantone 5793 C)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

Just to the east of Tuscumbia, and across the Tennessee River from Florence is the city of Muscle Shoals, which has the largest population in Colbert County at 16,275. There are several theories as to how Muscle Shoals got its name. One such theory is that it is named for a former natural feature of the Tennessee River where mussel shells gathered in a shallow zone. The modern spelling of "mussels" hadn't yet been adopted when the area was first settled; therefore, "Muscle Shoals". Another theory is that the Cherokee named it after having a tough time trying to navigate along the river in the area, requiring a bit more "muscle" in order to go through. Whatever the case may be, the first thing to put Muscle Shoals on the map was the completion of the Wilson Dam in 1924. The dam was initially authorized by Woodrow Wilson to help power nitrate plants for munitions during World War I.

 

However, just like Fort Payne with its production of socks, Muscle Shoals punches above its weight when it comes to the production of music. Starting in the late 1950s, Rick Hall founded and became the owner of FAME Studios which produced many major hits of the day, including those by Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, and The Rolling Stones. This is considered the first wave of those that seeked the "Muscle Shoals sound". The second wave of those seeking the "Muscle Shoals sound" came in 1969 when the then-quartet of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (nicknamed "The Swampers" by Hall) left FAME and built their own Muscle Shoals Sound Studio at a former coffin showroom in nearby Sheffield. From there, musicians such as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Bob Seger, and Cher came to 3614 Jackson Highway to record their hits and albums. That address ended up being the title of Cher's sixth album in 1969, which was recorded entirely at the studio. For some later history, George Michael recorded an early version of "Careless Whisper" in 1983 at 3614 Jackson Highway with producer Jerry Wexler, and Carrie Underwood's 2006 hit "Before He Cheats" was recorded at FAME. The music history of Muscle Shoals has even impacted reality TV, as the siblings of Angela and Zac Hacker, both of whom hailed from Muscle Shoals, were the two finalists for Season 5 of USA Network's Nashville Star. Angela would be the winner, while Zac took 2nd place. If you want to know more about the music history of Muscle Shoals, the award-winning 2013 documentary Muscle Shoals is a great place to start.

 

The logo design is of a blue letter "S" with the treble and bass clefs located inside the green serifs, and a pair of eighth-notes in the green square center for a completed design. The blue comes from the sign at the entrance of the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, while the green comes from "The Swampers" nickname given to the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. The primary kit, "The Muscle Shoals Sound Kit", consists of a solid blue shirt with a green collar and a repeating pattern of five thin green hoops that resemble blank sheet music along the front. The kit is made complete with green shorts with blue detailing and blue socks with green detailing. The secondary kit, "The 3614 Jackson Highway Kit", consists of a solid white shirt with a blue collar and blue detailing, blue shorts with white detailing, and white socks with blue detailing.

 

The sponsor of the team, the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), is a science-based public international organization working to alleviate global hunger founded in Muscle Shoals and headquartered in both Muscle Shoals and Washington D.C.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is Rece Davis, the ESPN sports journalist who serves as a SportsCenter anchor and a host of the College GameDay shows for college football and college basketball. Davis was born and raised in Muscle Shoals.

 

[RevNet]

With the team below, the Central West Conference is complete.

 

Sumter County SC

Team Colors: Tiger Red (Pantone 187 C), Stripe White (White)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

At a population of under 3,500, the Sumter County seat of Livingston is on the smaller end of the cities that have an ALSL team. Sumter County was established in December 1832 after the Choctaw Nation had ceded the territory to the government under the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. The city of Livingston was named in honor of statesman and jurist Edward Livingston, who was the U.S. Secretary of State from 1831-1833, and it would be incorporated in January 1835. In that same year, the Livingston Female Academy would be founded by ethnic Scots-Irish Presbyterians with the mission of teaching future teachers, while also offering course work in art, music, languages, and home economics. 188 years and five name changes later, the Livingston Female Academy is today known as the co-ed University of West Alabama, and this team gets its whole identity from the university, whose athletic teams are known as the West Alabama Tigers. This team is nicknamed "The Red Tigers" to distinguish themselves from "The Tigers" of Auburn-Opelika SC.

 

The logo design is a red circular design with the head of a growling tiger on the inside of the circle. On top of the head is a red letter "S" which is done in a similar style to the UWA wordmark and it makes for a completed design. The primary kit, "The Red Tiger Kit", is an all-red kit with a subliminal white tiger stripe pattern, a large white hoop, and a white collar on the shirt and white detailing throughout. The secondary kit, "The 1835 Kit", is an all-white kit with red detailing throughout.

 

The sponsor of the team, American Tower Corporation, is a Boston-based communications infrastructure company with a tower in nearby Epes.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is folk singer Vera Hall, who was born in Livingston and was best-known for her 1937 song, "Trouble So Hard".

[RevNet]

I mean, it's only natural for this team below to exist, right? With the team below, the Central East Conference is complete.

 

Talladega Racers SC

Team Colors: Racing Magenta (Pantone 2039 C), Checkered Flag Black-and-White

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

With this team, I tried to marry the aesthetics of soccer and stock car racing. For not knowing much about stock car racing these days, I think I did my best with that task. Anyway, I would say that with this team, we have to talk about the two Talladegas. There's Talladega the city and then there's Talladega Superspeedway, which is actually in nearby Lincoln. First things first, with a population of just under 16,000, the city of Talladega is the county seat of Talladega County in east Alabama. Incorporated in 1835, the Talladega name comes from a Creek phrase meaning "border town", as it was on the border of the Muscogee and Natchez territories.

 

Now we'll move on to the Talladega Superspeedway, which at 2.66 miles is the longest oval in NASCAR. The track was built in 1969 by the France family-controlled International Speedway Corporation, after Bill France, Sr. had failed to find a suitable spot in the Carolinas for a track that was longer and faster that Daytona. Initially named the Alabama International Motor Speedway, the track opened on September 13th of that year and cost $4-million to build. In the first race to take place at the track, almost all of the original drivers abandoned the race due to tire problems. One of the few drivers that didn't was Richard Brickhouse, who would go on to win the race. The track would change its name to its present name in 1989. However, NASCAR fans best know Talladega for an event called "The Big One", in which five or more cars get involved in a crash, which can also occur at other tracks such as Daytona, Dover, and Watkins Glen. In Talladega's case, there is a rumor that "The Big One" happens because the track is supposedly cursed. There are several theories on how Talladega got cursed. One of these theories that always gets passed around is that the track was built on a Indian burial ground. Whatever the case may be, The Legend of Hallowdega  is a 2010 black comedy short film about this supposed curse of 'Dega which stars David Arquette. There is also this 2021 YouTube video on the curse.

 

The logo design starts out with a black parallelogram shape with rounded corners, not unlike a patch you would find on a NASCAR fire suit. Inside the shape is a monogram consisting of a letter "T" (for "Talladega") made up of the flags that you would see during a NASCAR race and a magenta letter "R" (for "Racers") that juts out of the "T" for a completed design.  The primary kit, "The Race Day Kit", is an all-black kit with a white collar on the shirt and magenta-and-white triangular patterns that come up the sides of the shirt and down the sides of the shorts. The kit is made complete with black socks with white detailing. The secondary kit, "The Ready For Whatever Kit", is an all-white kit with a checkered flag pattern on the front and black detailing throughout.

 

The sponsor of the team, the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind (AIDB), is the world’s most comprehensive education, rehabilitation and service program serving individuals of all ages who are deaf, blind, deafblind and multidisabled and was established in Talladega in 1858.

 

The name on the back of the jersey is journalist Jack Nelson, who was born in Talladega and got praise for his coverage of the Watergate scandal while working for the Los Angeles Times. He also won a Pulitzer Prize in 1960.

[RevNet]

Ready to fly? With the team below, the Capital Region Conference is complete.

 

Also, in case you were wondering, I do have an Imgur account, so I think this thread will be fine for the foreseeable future.

 

Tuskegee Airmen SC

Team Colors: Emblem Blue (Pantone 2119 C), TU Crimson (Pantone 201 C), TU Gold (Pantone 2119 C)

Team Secondary Color:  Sunrise Blue (Pantone 2116 C)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

Between the cities of Montgomery and Auburn lies the city of Tuskegee, which is the county seat of Macon County and has a population of 9,395. General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a war veteran under Andrew Jackson, laid out and founded Tuskegee in 1833. It was incorporated a decade later. Tuskegee has played an important role in the history of the country and especially within the history of African-Americans, starting off with the founding of Tuskegee Normal School on Independence Day in 1881 by Lewis Adams, a former slave whose father, Jesse Adams, a white slave owner had allowed him to be educated. Its first principal, Booker T. Washington, was instrumental in the college's early endowment and expansion into what is today known as Tuskegee University, which became a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and achieved university status in 1985, prompting a name change. During WWII in 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps, under pressure from civil rights organizations, established a training program at the then-Tuskegee Institute in an effort to train black aviators. The graduates of this program became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Moton Field, which is four miles from the TU campus center and where the program was held, is also a National Historic Site.

 

The logo design is a blue roundel based around the symbol of the Tuskegee Airmen, which is the inner roundel. On the outer roundel is the full team name in white split into two arches, along with crimson and gold patterns on the sides, which are based on the noses of the Red Tail planes that the Airmen flew, making for a complete design. The primary kit, "The Blue Skies Kit", is an all-blue kit with white detailing throughout and consisting of a gradient navy-to-blue shirt with a white collar, gradient blue-to-navy shorts, and navy blue socks with white detailing. The secondary kit, "The Institute Kit", consists of a solid gold shirt with a crimson collar, crimson shorts with gold detailing, and gold socks with crimson detailing.

 

The sponsor of the team, the United Fund (UNCF), is a philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for Black students and general scholarship funds for 37 HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities). It was founded in 1944 by Frederick D. Patterson, the then-President of Tuskegee Institute, along with activists William J. Trent and Mary McLeod Bethune.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is George Washington Carver, who was a professor at Tuskegee for 47 years, during which time he headed its Agriculture Department. He also promoted the growth of alternative crops such as peanuts and sweet potatoes to prevent soil depletion, along with advocating for environmentalism. He was one of the most prominent black scientists of the early 20th century.