YAKIMA, Wash. — It has a coach, a name, a venue, a league and four players.

Sounds like a team.

And in that regard the Yakima Valley Warriors, whom American Indoor Football League officials said will begin play next spring, were born Tuesday via a press conference.

“Your first game should be April 10 of 2010,” said Michael Mink, the league’s vice president.

The team will play its home games in the SunDome, and will be part of a six-team Western Conference including a franchise in Wenatchee.

Mink said Lance Brown, a California resident who has been a head coach and assistant general manager in arena competition, will be the Warriors’ head coach.

Four players, including linebacker Chad Blau of Pacific Lutheran University, have been secured, Mink said. He also introduced veteran broadcaster Mike Bastinelli as his play-by-play man, although the radio station which will carry the games was not disclosed.

The owners will be introduced at a later press conference, Mink said.

The team will begin selling tickets Nov. 20, at the SunDome box office, with season passes running from $328 for Warrior Club tickets to $59.

Top-tier tickets include free parking, seating in the first two rows, a private table in the State Fair Room for a pregame buffet and other amenities.

The Warrior Club, Mink said, will be limited to the first 240 members.

Single-game tickets, according to an AIFA brochure, average $15 with some as low as $8.

The 14-game regular season will run from March through June with the playoffs in July. Kids will also be allowed to participate on game days, with competition starting at 8 a.m.

“We have yet to have an cancellation or postponement in our three-year history,” Mink said.

That’s a far cry from Yakima’s turbulent one-year stint in the now-defunct National Indoor Football League. The schedule of the Yakima Shockwave was often fluid and franchise stability in the NIFL was not a strong suit.

The SunDome also flirted with arenafootball2 when the league had teams in the Tri-Cities, Spokane and Everett. In March 2008, the SunDome hosted an af2 preseason game between the Spokane Shock and the Tri-Cities Fever.

The Fever also was looking at joining the AIFA after the af2 began to lose teams, but instead joined Arena Football 1 earlier this fall.

For the SunDome, which has been without a professional sports tenant since the Yakama Sun Kings ceased operations following the 2007-08 season, the Warriors’ arrival could be a much-needed financial boost.

“We’re hoping it has a big impact on us,” said Greg Lybeck, the dome’s director. “It depends, of course, on the crowds they get and those types of things.

”We’re pretty confident it’s going to happen, though. We’ve been dragging our feet somewhat, making sure. But they (the AIFL) have a good track record of playing where they’re supposed to play and being where they’re suppose to be — at least to this point in time.“

Other AIFA Western Conference teams, in addition to Yakima and Wenatchee, are located in Ogden, Utah, San Jose and Arizona. Eastern Conference teams are located in Harrisburg, Pa.; Reading, Pa.; Baltimore; Richmond, Va.; Erie, Pa.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Carolina; New Jersey and Washington D.C.

Of his attraction to Yakima, Mink said, ”I was driving through this area one day and I stopped to get something to eat. I asked someone if you had an arena here and they said, ’Yeah, we have an arena.’

“So I took a look at it, looked at the surrounding area and demographics, and liked what I saw.”

Mink said the Yakama Nation helped design the logo, which contains an arrowhead.

“Fast-paced, family fun,” Mink said. “This is what we’re all about, and we’re excited to be able to bring this type of entertainment to the Yakima Valley.”