As draft selections announced in Fort Worth, Panther City Lacrosse Club moves forward
The National Lacrosse League’s Fort Worth expansion franchise has built its player roster and announced its selections on Tuesday during an expansion draft.
The Panther City Lacrosse Club selected from among unprotected players at other NLL franchises Matt Hossack, defender, Saskatchewan Rush; Charlie Kitchen, forward, Albany FireWolves; Liam Byrnes, defender, Philadelphia Wings; Connor Kelly, forward, New York Riptide; Nick Damude, goalie, San Diego Seals; Patrick Dodds, forward, Calgary Roughnecks; Sam Clare, transition, Vancouver Warriors; Liam Patten, defender, Buffalo Bandits; Phil Caputo, forward, Rochester Knighthawks; Ryan Benesch, forward, Halifax Thunderbirds; Kevin Orleman, goalie, Georgia Swarm; Chris Wardle, forward, Colorado Mammoth; Scott Dominey, transition, Toronto Rock.
The selections were announced at the downtown Omni Fort Worth Hotel.
In an interview after the selections were announced, club CEO and managing partner Greg Bibb described the process of launching the professional sports team in Fort Worth.
“I quickly realized that Fort Worth, as the 13th largest city in the country, and one of the continually fastest-growing large cities in the country, didn’t have its own team ... no one called Fort Worth proper home. And I thought that fact along with the fact that there was a brand-new, beautiful, state-of-the-art arena, Dickies Arena, that just opened less than a year prior when we were making our decision. It seemed like a no brainer to bring a team to Fort Worth.”
The league’s season begins in December.
