Carlana Speed Balls

Carlana Speed Balls
Established	1939 as the Zinrico Speed Balls
Mascot	"Speedy Jordson" (1939-1993) None (1993-present)
Owner	William A. Johnson
General manager	J. H. Spiggott
Head coach	Matt Johnson
Home fields	Zinrico Dome (1939-1956) Dealship Stadium (1956-1984) Carlana West Stadium (since 1984)

The Carlana Speed Balls are a professional football team located in Carlana West, Carlana. Their home games are played at Carlana West Stadium, and have been played there since 1984. They played their home games at Dealship Stadium from 1956 to 1984. The Speed Balls are owned by business tycoon William Johnson, whose son, Matt, is the head coach.

History

The Zinrico Speed Balls were established in 1939, after the Zinrico Dome was built. Their nickname came from words yelled by a 4-year-old boy named Nathan Hatcher, who was the son of their first coach, Brandon Hatcher. (Brandon) Hatcher had originally intended to nickname the team the Speeding Footballs, but, one October day in 1939, his son yelled, "speed ball!". By the time the regular season was over, the team came to be known as the "Speed Balls". They played their first game against the Beckar Big Dogs in September of that year. Their best year as a Zinrico team came in 1952, which was Hatcher's last season as their head coach. They ended up being the champions of the now-defunct Zinrico-Carlana-Salviana conference. At the end of that season, Hatcher retired a happy man. After the 1955-1956 season, the team relocated to Carlana after being "bought" by the well-known Johnson family of Carlana. The prominent family decided to keep the nickname, out of respect for Brandon Hatcher. In 1964, many players and former players requested a change of the nickname to the "Flying Balls". An argument over the nicknames began in August 1964, and lasted until November 1964, when Brandon Hatcher passed away. The request for a nickname change died with Hatcher.