My very first thoughts this weekend was of how sad this is for Amarillo. The announcement came out on Friday evening that the Amarillo Bulls will be moving to Iowa. That is just a slap in the face for Amarillo sports.

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One more event gone and buried here. I worked for the Bulls for six seasons and can honestly say those games were some of the most fun games to work. I, unfortunately, saw the writing on the wall when we had a bunch of management changes early in the 2019/2020 season. I ended up leaving working for the team in early March of 2020.

Then Covid hit. That didn't help any local teams. The Bulls season was cut short. The Sod Poodles never got to play. Neither did the Venom. It looked like things were rebounding this season though.

At least the Amarillo Bulls are having a season. They had some games with fans, and several games that had to be without fans due to the high local numbers of Covid. Currently, we are now back to home games. So, I thought maybe there was a chance. But the sad news came out on Friday that this is the last season that will have the Amarillo Bulls calling the Amarillo Civic Center home after eleven years.

Here is their announcement from the Amarillo Bulls website:

Today the Amarillo Bulls organization is announcing that the North American Hockey League Board of Governors has approved the relocation of our team membership to Mason City, Iowa, starting in the 2021-22 season. We share with fans the disappointment that, after eleven amazing seasons, the Bulls will no longer call Amarillo home. We are very sorry to have to share this news.

 

The Bulls organization worked hard to avoid this outcome. In order to operate a sustainable business, we sought from the City of Amarillo a long-term commitment with reasonable terms to let us play out of the Amarillo Civic Center and continue to manage the ice for community events and recreation. However, we were unable to secure a partnership with the city to keep the Bulls in Amarillo. Nonetheless, we thank the City for all it has done for Bulls hockey over the years.

 

The Bulls will complete the remainder of our current 2020-21 season (including all home regular season and playoff games) and as always will continue to work hard to provide fans the best possible game experience.

 

Most of all, we want to thank all the fans, player host families, businesses, sponsors, and local charity groups that have made our time in Amarillo filled with very special memories.

I am really going to miss the Amarillo Bulls and all the people I've met while working with them. I got to meet Jay Novacek from the Dallas Cowboys. I had the chance to interview and talk to Congressman Ronny Jackson. I will miss all the fans I got to hang out with and and all the co-workers. I am just going to miss those days.

Hanging with Jay Novacek.

credit: Melissa Bartlett, TSM
credit: Melissa Bartlett, TSM
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My time with Chewbaca

credit: Melissa Bartlett, TSM
credit: Melissa Bartlett, TSM
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Santa! I know him!

credit: Melissa Bartlett, TSM
credit: Melissa Bartlett, TSM
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Oh and a lot of the great co-workers that I loved getting to share the ice with for all these years.

credit: Melissa Bartlett, TSM
credit: Melissa Bartlett, TSM
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