Jim Foster

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Jim Foster is the founder and first commissioner of the Arena Football League. He is also a former NFL and USFL executive and was later the principal owner of the Iowa Barnstormers.

Foster derived the basic concept of Arena football while watching a game of indoor soccer being played at Madison Square Garden on February 11, 1981. He drew it out on a manila envelope. The AFL began league play in 1987. In 1990, Foster was granted a patent on the game of Arena football and the equipment unique to it, particularly the end zone rebound nets, meaning that other indoor football leagues not affiliated with the Arena organization must play by at least somewhat different rules than the ones the AFL uses.

Jim is a fan of traditional jazz and plays trumpet whenever he gete the chance. He was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa - the same hometown as legendary jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke.

When Jim lived in Des Moines during his Iowa Barnstormer ownership days, he served as a member of the board of directors for Jazz Partnerz (Kurt Bowermaster, president), the non-profit group that planned and organized the Greater Des Moines Good Times Jazz Festival.