The current St. Paul Saints are the Minnesota Twins AAA affiliate team. The team used to be part of the Northern League. The team was founded in 1993 as an inaugural team in the league. They won the Northern League Championship in 1993, 1995, 1996, and 2004.[3] Notable current and former players include Kevin Millar, Darryl Strawberry, Jason Varitek, Jack Morris, and Ila Borders. The Saints play their home games at CHS Field in St. Paul and are the current Triple-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. They moved to downtown St Paul in time for the 2015 season, to start play at the new CHS Field.
In the summer of 2023, the PHF was shut down as part of the launch of a new, unified professional women's league, the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).[10] The Minnesota Frost became one of the six charter franchises in the new league, and it was announced that the new team would play its home games at the Xcel Energy Centre.[11][12] The team held the first ever PWHL draft pick and used it to select Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Taylor Heise.[13] On May 30, 2024, became the league's first champions as they won the inaugural Walter Cup.[14]
Minnesota United FC is a Major League Soccer team that was founded in 2010 as the NSC Minnesota Stars. In 2013, the club rebranded with a new crest and a new name, Minnesota United FC. In 2010 when the club was founded, it began to play in North American Soccer League in the second tier of US Soccer. In March 2015, MLS announced that Minnesota United had been awarded an expansion spot in MLS. The team continued to compete in the NASL until the 2017 season when Minnesota United began to compete in MLS.[15] This marked the introduction of top division soccer to Minnesota since the Minnesota Kicks dissolved in 1981.[16] Minnesota United currently plays its home games at Allianz Field in Saint Paul. Minnesota United is nicknamed "the Loons" after Minnesota's state bird, the common loon. Notable players for Minnesota United include Kevin Molino, Darwin Quintero, Osvaldo Alonso, and Miguel Ibarra.
The Thunder were a USL First Division team founded in 1992 as an amateur men's team, then joined the USL in 1994, and won the championship of what was then the A-League in 1999.[17] Notable former players include Tony Sanneh and Manuel Lagos.
The Minnesota Lightning were a W-League team founded in 2006. They also played at the National Sports Center. The team folded after the 2009 season.
The newest addition to Minnesota sports, the Minnesota Aurora FC are a USL W League team founded in 2021 and began play in May 2022.
Bandy has been played on a regular basis in the United States since the early 1980s and the game is most popular in Minnesota, where the winter climate makes it possible to play outdoors for many months a year.
The Minnesota Swarm were the state's professional lacrosse team from 2005 to 2015. All home games for the Minnesota Swarm were played at the Xcel Energy Center. The National Lacrosse League (NLL) awarded St. Paul the inactive Montreal Express franchise on August 10, 2004. After eleven seasons of mixed success playing in Minnesota, the Swarm left Minnesota for Georgia as they became the Georgia Swarm. Swarm owner John Arlotta cited difficulty negotiating a lease with the Xcel Energy Center, competition from other local sports teams, and decreasing ticket sales as reasons for the franchise's relocation.[21]
Minnesota plays host to several professional golf events. In 2019, the state became host to the 3M Open, a PGA Tour event in Blaine, which replaced the PGA Tour Champions event that was hosted in Blaine annually since 1993. What used to be the Burnett Senior Classic played at Bunker Hills is now the 3M Championship played at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine. Minnesota was the host of the LPGA Classic from 1990 to 1998 at Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Park. The Nationwide Tour stops annually at Tom Lehman's Somerby Golf Club and Community in Byron.
Disc golf courses in the Twin Cities play host to the Minnesota Majestic on the third weekend every June.[22] It is part of the Professional Disc Golf Association's National Tour, the top level of pro/am disc golf events in America.[23] The tournament has frequented Kaposia Park, Blue Ribbon Pines and Hyland Ski Area, among other courses. The 2010 Minnesota Majestic was the 23rd annual.
There are two racetracks in Minnesota that hold NASCAR sanctioned events. Elko Speedway in Elko is a 3/8 mile paved oval, which has held NASCAR events for over twenty years. Raceway Park (Minnesota) in Shakopee is a 1/4 mile paved oval.
NASCAR drivers from Minnesota include:
Joe Frasson – Ran several races in the 1970s, best career finish is third (three times)
Minnesota is known for being the home of the Brainerd International Raceway, which opened in 1963. It has hosted drag racing, road racing, and kart racing.[27]NHRA drivers from Minnesota include:
Perhaps the most successful driver from Minnesota is Tommy Milton. Milton became the first driver to win two Indianapolis 500s with his wins in 1921 and 1923. Amazingly, Milton was completely blind in his right eye.[28] In 2007 Rochester's Leilani Munter became the fourth woman in history to compete in the Indy Pro Series, the development league of IndyCar.
The aforementioned Brainerd International Raceway also hosts a 3-mile road course, which held a USAC race in 1969 among other events.
Rally
Rally America, based out of Golden Valley, holds an annual event in the woodlands near Bemidji. Known as the Ojibwe Forests Rally, the event is held near the end of August each year. Rally America also holds events in Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Colorado. X-Games superstar, Travis Pastrana, is a regular in the series.
World of Outlaws
There is a yearly World of Outlaws (WoO) sprint car event held at Princeton Raceway. Known as the PolyDome Princeton Nationals, the event is most likely held at the track due to WoO driver, Craig Dollansky, being from nearby Elk River. The 1/4 mile track leads to some exciting, action-packed racing.
Athletics
Minnesota has a long history with athletics which dates back to the early years as a state, when arena track racing and college track teams drew large crowds. As the cities and towns in the state of Minnesota grew in the 1890s, track and field events became popular at schools and colleges. The early Olympic competitions (especially the 1908 Summer Olympics) boosted the profile of the "marathon," a 26.2 mile road running distance, and Minnesota had its own runnings of the race before 1920.[29]
Minnesota is often touted as one of the healthiest states in America, which coincides with its strong base of road runners and high participation numbers in local road races.[30] By the 1960s, future Olympian Ron Daws started the Land of Lakes Marathon in Minneapolis, which grew into the City of Lakes Marathon. Participation grew in the marathon while local smaller road races flourished.[31] The City of Lakes grew into the Twin Cities Marathon, which first ran in 1982.
The success of Olympian Garry Bjorklund and the speed of Minnesota's own Boston Marathon-legend Dick Beardsley prompted more growth in the sport in the North country near Duluth where the Grandma's Marathon first ran in 1977. It was named after the restaurant on Canal Park, not the gender and age of finishers. The race posted some of the fastest times in the United States, and it drew international racing competition to the North Shore.
Now nearly every high school and college in the state offers cross-country and track and field teams for both genders. The state is also host to a team of distance running professionals training for national road races: the MN Distance Elite team (formerly known as Team USA Minnesota).[32]
Twin Cities Marathon (from Minneapolis to St. Paul, founded 1982, but preceded by the Land of Lakes Marathon [1963–1975], the City of Lakes Marathon [1976–1981] and the St. Paul Marathon [1981]).
Four other universities in Minnesota also compete in NCAA Division I with teams competing nationally in ice hockey. The other Division I schools are Bemidji State University, Minnesota State University, Mankato (branded for sports purposes as Minnesota State), and St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota Duluth. All of these universities field both men's and women's teams. All four currently compete on the women's side of the WCHA, but have differing homes for their men's teams. Bemidji State and Minnesota State also compete on the men's side of the WCHA, while Minnesota–Duluth and St. Cloud State compete in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), which only operates a men's league. Duluth Bulldogs have won five Division I championships in women's ice hockey and two Division I championships in men's ice hockey. After the 2020–21 season, Bemidji State and Minnesota State will leave the men's WCHA to become inaugural members of the second Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). This league is the revival of a former Division I men's conference that had operated from 1971 to 2013.[35]
In July 2021, the University of St. Thomas became the state's newest Division I school. The Tommies were expelled from their longtime Division III home of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), effective with the end of the 2020–21 school year, due to perceptions by most of the other MIAC members that they had grown too strong for the conference.[36] St. Thomas soon received an invitation from the Summit League, a non-football Division I conference, to become a member effective upon its MIAC departure.[37] St. Thomas eventually received a waiver of an NCAA rule mandating that Division III schools can only transition to Division II, allowing the school to move directly to D-I on the originally announced schedule.[38] Of the school's 21 varsity sports, 18 participate in the Summit League. The football team plays in the Pioneer Football League, a football-only conference that competes in the second level of D-I football, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), thereby becoming the state's first FCS member.[39] Men's hockey joined the revived CCHA,[40] and women's hockey is in the WCHA.[38]
Division II
The NCAA Division II teams in Minnesota primarily compete in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). There are 9 Division II classified schools for the 2017–2018 year. The NSIC was founded in 1932 and joined the NCAA in 1992.[41] Teams competing in the NSIC are:[42]
Bemidji State, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud State notably compete in Division I in men's and women's hockey. All four are members of the women's WCHA; Bemidji State and Minnesota State are also members of the men's WCHA but set to move to the new CCHA in 2021, with Minnesota–Duluth and St. Cloud State competing in the NCHC. Bemidji State University has won five NCAA Division II titles in men's hockey. Minnesota State has produced won 6 team and 49 individual national championships including men's hockey, women's softball. Minnesota Duluth has produced eight Division II and Division 1 titles, five in NCAA Division I Women's Hockey, one in NCAA Division I Men's Hockey, and two in NCAA Division II Football. Winona State has won two NCAA Division II in Men's Basketball titles. Concordia St. Paul has won nine NCAA Division II titles in Volleyball. Saint Cloud State was won two NCAA Division II titles in Wrestling. Minnesota Crookston, MSU Moorhead, and Southwest Minnesota State have not won any NCAA team titles.[43]
St. Scholastica will leave the UMAC after the 2020–21 school year and replace St. Thomas in the MIAC.
The UMAC was founded in 1972.[47] The conference became an active NCAA Division III conference July 1, 2008. There are nine full members, seven from Minnesota. All seven Minnesota members are full Division III members.
Olympians from Minnesota
The United States hockey team won the Olympic gold medal for ice hockey in 1980, coached by Minnesota native Herb Brooks. Eleven of the twenty players on the roster were from Minnesota.[citation needed] The team beat the long-dominant Soviet team in what has been called the Miracle on Ice, and went on to win the gold medal by defeating Finland.
The 1960 United States hockey team won the Olympic gold medal in the 1960 Winter Olympics. Six of the 18 members of that team were from Minnesota.[citation needed] The team beat the Canadian ice hockey team in the final game to secure the gold medal.
A substantial number of players on the 1956 Olympic silver medal hockey team came from Minnesota.[citation needed] The 1948 Winter Olympics had a native Thief River Falls, MN member on the team.
The majority of players on the 1972 Olympic silver medal hockey team came from Minnesota.[48]
The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks are an American Association team founded in 1996 and based in Fargo, North Dakota. While not primarily based in Minnesota the team also includes fans from Moorhead, Minnesota. They won five Northern League titles in 1998, 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2010 (the last year of the league).[51]
Minnesota has more golfers per capita than any state in the U.S.[53] Hazeltine National Golf Club played host to the 2006 U.S. Amateur.[54]
Curling
In addition to the Bemidji Curling Club whose members competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics, there are over two dozen curlingclubs in the state.
Roller derby
The Twin Cities is home to Minnesota Roller Derby (Saint Paul), North Star Roller Derby (Minneapolis) and Twin Cities Roller Derby (Minneapolis), as well as two junior derby leagues, Minnesota Junior Roller Derby (MNJRD) and Minnesota Frostbite.
Minnesota Roller Derby was founded in 2004 as the Minnesota RollerGirls, and were the fourth flat-track league to host a bout. Their venue for the first season was a roller rink in a northern Minneapolis suburb. After selling out all four bouts in their first season, they were approached by the City of Saint Paul, which connected them with the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, part of the RiverCentre Complex, making them the first modern roller derby league to play in a professional sports venue, and their first sellout set the modern roller derby attendance record of 4,900 (which was beaten the next month by the Rat City Rollergirls of Seattle, who had recently begun playing in the 15,000-seat KeyArena). The Minnesota RollerGirls are founding members of the Women's Flat-Track Derby Association (WFTDA), the main governing body for flat track roller derby, and have advanced to the WFTDA Championships in 2006, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Minnesota Roller Derby's training organization includes the adult training team Minnesota Windchill (formerly Debu-Taunts) and junior training team Minnesota Frostbite.
North Star Roller Derby was founded in 2006 as North Star Roller Girls, and played in a roller rink for two seasons before moving to the Minneapolis Convention Center. They joined the WFTDA in 2009, and competed in the North Central Regional Tournament in 2009 and 2010. In 2015, their primary venue changed to the Lee and Rose Warner Coliseum at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, where they remain. Their secondary venues include Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota and the Minneapolis Convention Center. The league rebranded to North Star Roller Derby in 2017.
TCRD and MNJRD play in various venues around the Twin Cities. Twin Cities Roller Derby was founded in 2009 as Minnesota Men's Roller Derby, and rebranded in 2018.
Soccer
Every year in summer (generally in July) at Blaine'sNational Sports Center the Schwan's USA CUP is played. It is the largest international youth soccer tournament in North America with over 1,000 teams and participants from 22 countries.[55][56]
Formed in 1953, the Minnesota Amateur Soccer League is one of several adult amateur soccer leagues in the state. MASL is considered the top sanctioned adult league, which features four divisions using the promotion-relegation system.
^James Langland, ed. (1913). The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book for 1914. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Daily News Company. pp. 392–3.
^"Annual Report 2020"(PDF). America's Health Rankings. See 'Physical Health' in Minnesota table. United Health Foundation. Retrieved March 27, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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