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FAIRBANKS — With the first player contracts of the 2010 season, the Fairbanks Grizzlies brought back some of their finest footwork.

Oh, and they re-signed their kicker.

Defensive lineman Pete Smith and kicker Carlos Ojeda rejoined the Grizzlies, the Indoor Football League team announced at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Smith was known for dancing between plays as he accumulated 43.5 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.

The 6-foot-3, 270-pounder said his 5-year-old daughter, Jayci, teaches him some moves.

Ojeda joined Fairbanks in June one week after former kicker Brian Stuvek missed six extra points in a five-point loss to the Billings Outlaws. Ojeda made 20 of 21 extra points and 3 of 6 field goals, including a 52-yarder.

“Coming into the situation that I came into, I had a lot to prove — not just to the team but to myself,” he said.

For the 2010 season, Ojeda aims to be the IFL’s top kicker.

Both players plan to live in Fairbanks through the winter. Smith was in Fairbanks to experience 40-below weather in early 2009, but Ojeda — from the Miami area — has yet to see anything resembling a Fairbanks winter.

“That was one of the reasons I wanted to come up here,” he said. “I’m excited for it.”

New IFL teams

In an owners meeting Thursday, the IFL approved franchises in five cities: Amarillo, Texas; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Green Bay, Wis.; and Macon, Ga.

The league, which had 19 teams in 2009, has already added the Arctic Predators of Wasilla, the La Crosse (Wis.) Spartans, and the Richmond (Va.) Revolution.

To take part in the 2010 season, the expansion teams will need to meet certain criteria — the main hurdle of which is getting a contract with a local arena — before the IFL creates its schedule.

Grizzlies tryouts

Local tryouts for the Fairbanks Grizzlies will be from 8:30 a.m.-noon Nov. 14 at the UAF Student Recreation Center.

For more information, contact the Grizzlies at 452-5123, www.fairbanksgrizzlies.com or 819 First Ave., Suite B.

Football combine

Also announced at the conference was the inception of the All-American College Football Scouting Combine for seventh- through 12th-grade players.

The combine will take place from 2-6 p.m. Nov. 15 at the UAF Student Recreation Center. It will include skill tests such as bench pressing, vertical leaps and the 40-yard dash.

The camp costs $75 for those who sign up by Oct. 23 and $100 for those who sign up between Oct. 24 and Nov. 6.

Information can be found at the Grizzlies’ Web site or at www.sportsweave.com. Pre-combine classes are available at Jungle Gym for $99.

Contact staff writer Joshua Armstrong at 459-7583.