Movin’ On Up

The Door County Destroyers faced the Manitowoc County Mariners in the first round of 2014 playoffs on Nov. 1 at the Baileys Harbor Rec Park. Photo by Len Villano.

The Door County Destroyers are looking for a new challenge. With a championship win in the Wisconsin State Football League (WSFL) after a nearly undefeated season in 2014, the Destroyers will graduate to the Mid-States Football League (MSFL) this year. The MSFL boasts tougher competition throughout Wisconsin and Illinois, with several players being former NCAA Division I and NFL athletes.

The biggest concern: “The level of the competition and being able to recruit and bring in guys that are going to be able to run at that level,” said co-owner Ryan Zuehlke.

After two years since their inception, the Destroyers moved to the top of the WSFL, outscoring their opponents by more than 300 points in the combined 2014 season. Their season was capped with the WSFL championship title and their success forced them to look at new horizons.

“We thought we had outplayed our opponents to the point where our fans and our players just weren’t as interested unless we were playing the tough teams,” said Zuehlke.

Along with fiercer competition, the MSFL also brings a greater reach. Six of the 12 teams are based in the Chicago-land area while the other six, including the Destroyers, are based in Wisconsin. Throughout it’s 16-year history, the MSFL has fielded teams as far away as Indianapolis and Detroit. The majority of Wisconsin teams play out of the Madison and Milwaukee areas, making the Destroyers the northernmost team in the league. Also joining the MSFL is the Destroyers’ WSFL rival the Sheboygan Rebels.

The team cites increased recruitment efforts as its main priority heading into the 2015 season. The Destroyers will need a higher caliber of player throughout their team to effectively compete in the league. The Destroyers hope that their new head coach Chris Knapp will spur the players to compete in the new league.

Yet the Destroyers are facing other challenges such as longer commutes to games and changing seasons.

The MSFL begins in June and goes through Labor Day, whereas the WSFL held their season entirely in the fall. Many players on the Destroyers enjoyed the ability to play in a summer league before heading to Bailey’s Harbor before the fall season. Now those players will have to make the choice of which league to play with in the summer.

“We did have some turnover. We had a lot guys that came from Eau Claire and they’re not going to join us again this year because they want to play with their summer teams,” said Zuehlke.

Photo by Len Villano

But the owners are hoping to pick up players from the WSFL league who can play through the summer before their fall season. “Moving up to the highest level of competition makes guys want to be able to prove themselves,” said Zuehlke.

The change in seasons also shortens the time the Destroyers have to prepare for their new league. With a fall season, the team could recruit in the winter and practice through the summer before their games started. Now, losing two months in preparation, they are forced to pull together a team of starters and sharpen up for a tougher league beginning in June.

“It definitely speeds our timeline up,” said Zuehlke. “Normally we take a little bit of time off right now but not so much this year. March 7 is the combine and we’ll go every week from there.”

The longer distance to travel for away games makes scheduling more difficult as well. In the WSFL, teams were centered in northeast Wisconsin, making the commute easy for most athletes living in the area. Now, for most away games, the team will travel no closer than Milwaukee to play.

To help mitigate the issue, the league divides the 12 teams into two groups of six, the south and the north conferences, in Illinois and Wisconsin, respectively. Each team will play only one out-of-state game during the regular season.

“As ownership, our biggest concern right now is the travel,” said Zuehlke. “But for the players, it’s definitely getting our squad set so when we’re ready to roll into practices in March, we’re a team. We’d like to see a few more Door County guys come out and play some ball.”

The MSFL will hold a scheduling meeting between team owners in Rockford at the end of January to discuss the upcoming season.