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After traveling extensively for four years as a musician, Thom Hager moved to Louisiana to work at Lake Charles Music. Five years later after growing the percussion department to the second largest in the state of Louisiana, Hager decided to change careers and moved into media first as a sales rep in television, then in management in the radio industry.
In 1993, Hager moved to Tampa, Florida with his family to work for JACOR Communications as Local Sales Manager for WFLZ radio. After the birth of their third child, it was time to move back home. When the Lake Charles Ice Pirates ice hockey team offered Hager an ownership opportunity and the position as Director of Sales and Marketing, it was an answer to a prayer.
After two award winning years with the Ice Pirates, the Alexandria Warthogs offered Hager the position as VP of Sales and Marketing. In just six short months, the team had an increase of sales by more than fifteen percent before the season even started.
In November of ’99, Hager returned to television, this time as Director of Sales & Marketing for the local FOX affiliate. He also launched a small promotions company known today as Impact Marketing, Sales, and Promotions which introduced a new sport to our market - indoor football.
Though Hager has hired and trained sales teams for AT&T, Apex Broadcasting, National Communications, JACOR Broadcasting, and Cumulus Broadcasting, he mostly enjoys the thrilling excitement of sports marketing and for this reason now owns the Louisiana Swashbucklers with his two partners, his wife, Brenda and God.
After winning consecutive championships in the Intense Football League, Hager had a vision to launch a regional league which is his newest brainchild – the Southern Indoor Football League. His business model is built upon progressive marketing and conservative spending.
Gary Tufford, Commissioner
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Tufford brings over thirty years of professional football experience to the league as a league executive, coach and player and over 20 years of involvement with indoor football. He has worked with the NFL, CFL and the Arena League in management, coaching and advisory roles.
He has previously served as the Executive Director of the Indoor Football League (IFL) and Commissioner of the World Indoor Football League (WIFL) – the latter being a league that he helped found. Tufford also assisted in the building of the original Indoor Football League (IFL), the American Indoor Football League and the Arena Football 2. His coaching career has included multiple stops in traditional outdoor football as well as indoor.
As a player, Tufford played wide receiver for the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL in the late 1970s with players such as Warren Moon, Johnny Rogers and Anthony Davis to name a few.
In between stints with other indoor football leagues, Tufford set up his own consulting company, GT Sports Group, which advices teams, leagues, arenas, and other entities on how to build successful indoor football operations.
In addition to his experience, Tufford also brings a unique passion for the game. “I love indoor football,” he says. “The action is so fast - it’s more exciting and high scoring than any other form of the game. Fans are closer to the action and it really provides a tremendous entertainment value for everyone in attendance. I am looking forward to continuing to build this great product with the SIFL and beyond.”
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Robert Winfrey came to the Southern Indoor Football League after serving as the Intense Football League’s Director of Communications in 2008.
Winfrey built and maintained the IFL’s official web site and oversaw indoor football’s most comprehensive live score update network while attending 27 games during the season. He also handled league operations, handling player transactions, eligibility and selecting the official IFL Players of the Week.
In 2009, his SIFL duties included creating the inaugural season schedule , daily operations and assisting with 2010 expansion efforts.
Winfrey was involved in game day and half time entertainment for various teams from 2004-2007, including the Beaumont Drillers (NIFL), Katy Copperheads (af2) , Texas Copperheads (af2), Louisiana Swashbucklers (IFL) and Odessa Roughnecks (IFL).
Robert and his wife of 16 years, Dana, reside in Nederland, Tex. He has two children, Jessica (22) and Jeramey (16).
Dan Blum, Commissioner and Supervisor of Officials
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Dan Blum serves as the Southern Indoor Football League’s commissioner, bringing over 45 years of football operations and officiating experience to the league’s inaugural season.
Blum spent a quarter-century officiating at the college level on the field and four more as a replay official.
For six years, he worked indoor football. In 2004 and 2005, he served as Director of Operations and Supervisor of Officials for the National Indoor Football League and returned to indoor football in 2008 as . Commissioner and Supervisor of Officials for the Intense Football League.
He and his wife, Patsy, have been married for 40 years, and have three children and three grandchildren. The couple resides in Lafayette, Louisiana.
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Bryan Shoemaker will serve as Director of Quality Control for the Southern Indoor Football League.
Shoemaker will work alongside Director of Operations Rob Winfrey and visit all the SIFL arenas to make sure they are in compliance with SIFL standards. The main focus will be on player and fan safety.
Shoemaker has been in the construction/ petrochemical safety field for over 22 years overseeing hundreds of employees on job sites.
An avid football fan, Shoemaker was introduced to indoor football when his wife, Leah, gave him season tickets to the Beaumont Drillers as a Christmas present. His passion for the game led him to forming a team booster that he oversaw as president.
He and Leah reside in Port Arthur, Texas, and have two children -- Kayla (18) and Kolton (9).
Matthew Hester, Director of Media Relations
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Matthew Hester serves as the Director of Media Relations for the Southern Indoor Football League after serving as the Media Relations Director for the Columbus Lions Indoor football team for the past two years.
While attending his Sports and Event Marketing class one summer afternoon in 2007, his college professor asked him if he would be interested in working for the local indoor football franchise, the Columbus Lions. Being the sports junkie he is, Matt quickly obliged and made a phone call to Lions owner John Hargrove. Within a week he was sitting face-to-face with the Head Coach Jason Gibson and was brought on to serve as a Marketing Intern.
That first season while finishing his college degree, Matthew took on roles such as implementing game-day operations, Coaches Show Host, and Color Commentator on Lions road games. In conjunction with the Literacy Alliance, Sylvan Learning Center, and Muscogee County School District, Matt helped administer the season long book promotion by visiting 20 local elementary to help promote the awareness of literacy.
In May of 2008, Matthew obtained his B.B.A in Marketing from Columbus State University becoming the first in his family to achieve a college degree. The following season he was brought back and given the title as Media Relations Director for the 2009 season.
During the 2009 campaign, he served as the clubs play-by-play announcer, game-day operations manager, public relations manager, at the same time as continuing to be the clubs website administrator covering the Lions as they captured the 2009 AIFA Southern Division Crown and just falling short of reaching the championship game.
In addition to his duties with the Lions, Matthew has also served as a radio host on the local Columbus ESPN radio affiliate ESPN 1580 The Zone as well as working on ESPN telecasts such as the annual Tuskegee/Morehouse Classic and STIHL TimberSports Series.
Darlene Nortman, Business Manager
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Known for her keen ability to quickly assess trouble areas in businesses, Darlene Nortman has turned her attention and talents to sports marketing and now enters her third season as Business Manager for the Southern Indoor Football League.
Ms. Nortman has extensive experience in the legal field as well as tax audits and has used her skills to help launch the SIFL in the fall of 2008. She has seen teams struggle with internal difficulties and has offered valuable business advice using strong fundamental strategies to help teams see indoor football as a profitable business.
She has become an avid fan of the game and for this reason; we count our blessings that she shares her wisdom, her wonderful discernment, and her exceptional accounting skills with the SIFL.
