While Sacramento is well-known for its basketball and baseball teams, the city also has a history with ice hockey. The Sacramento Rebels were a semi-professional ice hockey team hailing from Sacramento, California.
The City of Sacramento and the Sacramento metropolitan area are home to two major league professional teams - the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) - as well as numerous minor league and amateur sports teams.
The Rise and Fall of the Rebels
The Rebels were one of four founding members of the CWHL, northern California's answer to the Pacific Southwest Hockey League. In 2000, AAA minor league baseball returned to Sacramento with the Sacramento River Cats, an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The now defunct Sacramento Monarchs of the Women's National Basketball Association were one of the eight founding members of the WNBA, which started in 1997. Sacramento was also home to an indoor soccer team, the Sacramento Knights of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (later called the World Indoor Soccer League).
The Sacramento XSV (pronounced "excessive") of the National Professional Paintball League represents the City but is based in Modesto, California. The last sports team to come to Sacramento was the Sacramento Mountain Lions which was part of the United Football League (2009). Sacramento hosted the 2000 and 2004 USA Olympic Track & Field Trials.
The Rebels were the best team during the inaugural year but found themselves in trouble in the championship.
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The Championship Controversy
With the series tied 1-1 and Stockton leading 3-4 in the deciding match, player coach Norm Johnson became irate with a referee after a call and threw his stick at the official, Bernie Carter, before attacking him. Another player, Al Anton, assaulted the second referee and then attacked the Rebels' Dean Berard. A 10-minute melee broke out with fans hurling bottles onto the ice and the local sheriff had to be called in to quell the mini riot.
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Despite the fireworks of the first season the league found itself in financial trouble by 1978 and was left with just two clubs. At the same time, the San Diego Sharks of the PCHL had folded and that league needed a new member. Both Sacramento and Berkeley attempted to join the PSHL but only the Rebels ended up making the transition.
Sacramento tried to survive in the new league, however, with the added travel costs the team was unable to sustain itself long-term. The Sacramento Mile is a national flat-track motorcycle racing event.
Sacramento's Broader Sports Scene
Sacramento hosts some recreational facilities and events. The Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail that runs between Old Sacramento and Folsom Lake grants access to the American River Parkway, a natural area that includes more than 5,000 acres (20 km2) of undeveloped land. It attracts cyclists and equestrians from across the state. The California State Fair is held in Sacramento each year at the end of the summer, ending on Labor Day. In 2010, the State Fair moved to July. Among other recreational options in Sacramento is Discovery Park, a 275-acre (1.1 km2) park studded with stands of mature trees and grasslands.
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In amateur sports, Sacramento claims many prominent Olympians such as Mark Spitz, Debbie Meyer, Mike Burton, Summer Sanders, Jeff Float (all swimming), and Billy Mills (track).
High School Rugby
Natomas H.S. Sacramento is a hotbed for high school rugby. Jesuit High has won national championships, winning six times in total. Their arch-rival school Christian Brothers has come in second nationwide. Granite Bay, Burbank, Del Campo, Sierra Foothills, and Vacaville have also placed well in the national competition over the years.
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