The West Michigan ThunderHawks were an indoor football team based in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. The team was most recently a member of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

. From their inception in 2007 until 2009, the ThunderHawks were known as the Muskegon Thunder and played at L.C. Walker Arena (in their first two seasons they played in the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor American football, indoor American football, football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as ...

). In 2010, the team moved to Grand Rapids, MI. This is where the downfall of the team took place. The season started off hopeful with a 5–2 record. After week 7 the players were promised money at a later date as long as they played (money that they never received). Starting in 2010, the ThunderHawks played their home games at the

DeltaPlex Arena The DeltaPlex Arena & Conference Center (formerly the Stadium Arena and Grand Rapids Stadium) was a 5,500-seat multipurpose arena in Walker, Michigan, United States. It was the home of the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League and the Grand Rap ...

, in nearby

Walker, Michigan Walker is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A suburb of Grand Rapids, Walker borders the city to the north and west. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,132. Walker was originally organized as Walker Tow ...

. The Thunderhawks did not field a team in 2011.

Franchise history

2007

For their first season, the Thunder had Shane Fairfield as head coach. Fairfield was an accomplished local high school football coach, as he led the Holton Red Devils to a conference championship as well as two back to back district championships against Muskegon Catholic. Prior to that he coached his alma mater Muskegon Catholic Central, and Muskegon High School. For their first season with their brand-new identity, the head coach and defensive coordinator was

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

native, Terry Foster. Foster was once a star for the

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Allendale, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on ...

team, and played in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

for the

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena ...

. In 2006, Foster was an assistant coach for the Rampage. Offensive coordinator Brent White almost mirrored Fairfield's path from Muskegon to Holton, playing for the Big Reds from 1999 to 2002 and then stepping off the field as assistant JV coach at Holton. Soon afterward, he quickly became offensive coordinator for the Holton Red Devils, where he led his team to some record-breaking performances.

Schedule

Standings

2008

Schedule

Standings

2009

On January 18, 2009, Adam Pringle, a former player who started at Nose Guard, part-owner of the club, and son of the club's president, died from injuries sustained in a snowmobile accident.Muskegon Thunder rocked by Adam Pringle's death
MLive.com article. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.

2010

Season-by-season results

Notable players

* Stephen Wasil - QB * Cullen Finnerty - QB

References

External links

Official website

Thunder's 2007 stats
{{CIFL 2007 establishments in Michigan 2010 disestablishments in Michigan American football teams established in 2007 American football teams disestablished in 2010 Sports in Grand Rapids, Michigan Defunct American football teams American football teams in Michigan Defunct sports clubs and teams in Michigan