Who are the Panther City Lacrosse Club?
The Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars all play nearby.
Despite its stature and 900,000 population, Fort Worth’s lone professional sports team is the Panther City Lacrosse Club.
Haven’t heard of them?
Born in July 2020, the team was founded by Greg Bibb and Bill Cameron who had previously worked together while running the WNBA’s Dallas Wings.
Cameron is Chairman and CEO of American Fidelity Group. Cameron has vast experience operating sports franchises. He’s a minority owner of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder as well as the primary owner of the Dallas Wings and the Panther City Lacrosse Club.
Bibb, a 24-year sports industry veteran, is CEO and president of the Dallas Wings. Bibb serves as president, CEO and managing partner of Panther City Lacrosse Club.
The duo decided that the National Lacrosse League (NLL) would be the perfect league to bring to Fort Worth.
“I eventually landed on the National Lacrosse League,” said Bibb. “We realized that lacrosse was one of the fastest growing youth participation sports in the country and that North Texas was one of the fastest growing regions for youth lacrosse.”
Thus the Panther City Lacrosse Club was born. The name was created to honor and connect with the city of Fort Worth.
That connection was through the story of the sleeping panther. Initially, an insult was lobbed at the city by a lawyer from Dallas who claimed the city was so quiet and slow that a panther could sleep on main street.
However, Fort Worth citizens took the slight and turned it into a symbol of their city that has endured ever since.
“We wanted to create a connection between the community and the team much in the vein of what you see in European soccer,” Bibb said. “ We’re the only major professional sports team that calls Fort Worth home and we want to be identified in that way.”
Bibb said that if you’re from North Texas and hear the name Panther City, Fort Worth is the place that comes to mind.
The Panther City Lacrosse Club has found success in its first two seasons in large part due to general manager Bob Hamley. In his inaugural season, Hamley was a finalist for the NLL Executive of the Year Award in 2022.
Hamley was focused on bringing in high-character players who could execute a fast-paced physical style of lacrosse and found these players through the draft and trades while focusing on youth.
“We understand that it’s a young man’s game and we were very fortunate to land some good young players,” Hamley said.
Forward Patrick Dodds who was selected to the 2021-2022 NLL all-rookie team. Jonathan Donville, the No. 1 selection in the 2021 NLL Draft seems headed for a spot on this year’s team. Donville currently leads all rookies in points, assists and is second in goals scored.
Donville credits his success this season to his organization.
“I have been set up pretty well by my teammates and my coaches,” said Donville. “ TK [Tracey Kelusky] and coach Goundrey have been huge.”
Kelusky, the 2022 NLL coach of the year, has been cited as a key fixture on the team by both players and executives. A former No. 1 draft pick himself Kelusky knows what it takes to win at the highest levels of the NLL.
“He [Tracey Kelusky] deserves a lot of credit for how we played on and off the floor,” Hamley said.
Another young star for the team is Will Malcom. The forward leads the team in goals, assists and points all while being challenged to take on more of a leadership role.
“I’m not a big rah-rah guy I don’t talk a lot… I’m just trying to lead by example as much as I can,“ Malcom said.
Kelusky and his team have led the Panther City Lacrosse Club to a record of 4-4 which places them in fifth in the Western Division.
If the current standings were to hold the Panther City Lacrosse Club would barely miss the playoffs. However, with ten games remaining in the season, the playoffs are still within reach.
The Panther City Lacrosse Club next plays at Dickies Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m.
This story was originally published February 3, 2023 at 3:15 PM.
