Venom shoots into Winter Park

Home Game Schedule

The first 14 games that the Orlando Venom play will be home games, played at the Winter Park Community Center. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 17 and younger. Family packs and season tickets are also available for purchase. Visit OrlandoVenom.com for more information.

Date/Time/Opponent

Fri, Apr 27th 7:00PM Edmonton Energy

Sat, Apr 28th 7:00PM Edmonton Energy

Fri, May 4th 7:00PM Bellingham (WA) Slam

Sat, May 5th 7:00PM Bellingham (WA) Slam

Fri, May 18th 7:00PM New Jersey G-Force

Sat, May 19th 7:00PM New Jersey G-Force

Fri, June 1st 7:00PM Portland (OR) Chinooks

Sat, June 2nd 7:00PM Portland (OR) Chinooks

Fri, June 8th 7:00PM West Coast Hotshots

Sat, June 9th 7:00PM West Coast Hotshots

Fri, June 15th 7:00PM Vancouver Volcanoes

Sat, June 16th 7:00PM Vancouver Volcanoes

Fri, June 22nd 7:00PM Olympia Reign

Sat, June 23rd 7:00PM Olympia Reign

A new poison is coursing through the veins of Winter Park, but it’s the kind that you may not want an antidote for.

The Orlando Venom, the International Basketball League’s (IBL) newest member, will host its first game at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 27, at the Winter Park Community Center. The IBL is a professional basketball league based in Vancouver, Wash., is in its eighth season and features 10 teams from the United States, Canada and one team from Japan.

The Venom participated in a limited number of games in 2011 as Winning Ways Pro International Inc., which is an independent professional basketball training and scouting company. Barry Mestel, the CEO of Winning Ways Pro International, who has scouted for the NBA and WNBA and coached in European leagues, coaches the team.

The Venom features a range of players from ages 22 to the middle 30s, many of whom already have international experience. Terrence Hundley, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall, plays shooting guard. He’s played in Brazil, Portugal, the Czech Republic and most recently, China. In 2008, he led the IBL league in scoring.

Hundley lives in Atlanta, but travels down every Friday at his own expense to practice with the team.

“It’s tough,” Hundley said, “but I like to play in this league to stay in shape and this is the closest team.”

He said there are significant differences between overseas play and what you see in the United States.

“There’s more finesse,” he said. “The bigger guys can shoot three’s, and over here it’s more physical. There’s a lot more bumping and shoving.”

Iren Rainey, a resident of Winter Park, is 6 feet 1 inches tall and plays shooting guard and point guard for the team. He spent eight years playing in England and works as a professional basketball trainer. He has trained players from the NBA, WNBA, as well as local players. He said the speed of IBL play makes players have to move into set plays more quickly. A set play is a strategically planned and choreographed sequence of movements intended to get shots and score points.

“The game is a lot faster in the IBL,” he said. “Instead of walking the ball up and getting into a set, you kind of have to push a little faster than normal and go ahead and get into your sets and understand timing situations.”

The IBL has several rules intended to create an up-tempo play environment. One example is the 22-second shot clock that they have to play under, as opposed to the NBA’s 24-second clock. Mestel said this makes for a faster offense.

“You need 18, 19 seconds to run an offense, trying to get a shot off between eight and 13,” he said. “What that’ll do is that’ll give you enough time to run something, have at least three or four passes, and a good shot.”

Another difference in ruling, he said, is one that requires that the ball be moved beyond half-court within eight seconds. He said the team’s goal is to move the ball beyond half-court within three to four seconds.

General Manager Todd Hein said the players are not paid, but that he tries to help team members with expenses wherever possible. He said their payment comes in the form of opportunities to sign contracts to play overseas, which is their goal for the players.

“If we lose a player mid-season, we’re very happy. We’ve done our job,” he said. “We want to put out a great product out to the fans, but we want these guys to be able to pursue and continue their dreams overseas.”