Certainly no stranger to the game of Arena Football, Kurz is entering his second season as af2 President.  As one of the founding members of Gridiron Enterprises Inc., the charter member of the Arena Football League, Kurz is only exceeded in AFL tenure by Jim Foster, the creator of Arena Football.

As one of the game’s founding fathers, Kurz has had an instrumental role in the growth of Arena Football League over the past 20 years. Now directly in charge of af2, Kurz plans to use that same vision and passion to cultivate af2 into the premier developmental football league in the country. 

In his short time as chief of af2, Kurz has already solidified the future growth potential of the league by securing a core of quality operators and adding several new teams that begin play in 2006. Thanks to Kurz’s efforts, this year the league welcomes back one of its original franchises, the Tennessee Valley Vipers, and proudly introduces three new members – two from the state of Washington (Everett Hawks, Spokane Shock) and one from California (Stockton Lightning).  

Kurz also serves as the AFL’s Vice President of International Development, responsible for the League’s intenational exposure, growth and expansion. 

He directly supervises the international players in the AFL and af2 and administers the H3 Visa program established in 2002 to develop foreign-born players. He has planned and executed all international games of the Arena Football League and continues to plan and lead the AFL’s international expansion efforts.  In an effort to increase the international talent in the league, Kurz adopted a rule in af2 prior to the 2005 season that allows teams to dress an extra player if that player is of international origin. 

Kurz is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma where he was a member of the 1967 Big Eight Championship team and the 1968 Orange Bowl Championship team.  He has been a player, a coach, a general manager and an owner in the football community.  As a team owner, he has served on the Executive, the Legal, the Rules and Competition and the Negotiating Committees as well as serving on the Management Council.  He is also a member of three football Hall of Fames including being a member of the first class of the Arena Football Hall of Fame. 

He and his wife Kathryn have one son, Matthew, a college football player at Indiana University, and reside in Glenview, Illinois.