USIndoor's Official Magazine is a quarterly publication, dedicated to owners, managers, program administrators and other professionals, startups and providers involved with indoor recreational sports facilities.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/147624
The Early Days of U.S. Indoor Soc by Dave Litterer Part III of IV I campaign. This was successful and the took the playoff finals in three defeating their playoff opponents. This straight n 1985, the Major Indoor Soccer League time, Louisville took the title, team returned for the season afterall defeating over the . Outside of was at the top of the US soccer world. Louisville Thunder Another new development was the Canton in five matches. Steve Hellencamp top players were , This year, the league was fortified with a inauguration of Francisco Marcos s By the end of the season, several mostly unfamiliar names. fresh infusion of veteran players from the worrisome developments nagged the The MISL returned to New York the North American Soccer League looking for work. the , following season withExpress but MISL. First was the continuing slide of the Improved quality of play, lack of Preki St. Louis Steamers, formerly a flagship the in the competition and tight division races effort was a disaster, as the team folded midway through the season franchise which had regularly led the with a East brought average attendance to 3-23 record. almost 8,700 per game, nearly matching league in attendance and led the way with In happier news, Cleveland and the duked it out in a the league s best season, 1981-82. TheBaltimore Blast league inaugurated its 15-game close Eastern race, while the blowout in the West was won this time by the television contract with its best ESPN Tacoma Stars . broadcast coverage yet. Upsets were the order of top teams e The Cleveland Forcemerged atop the day in the playoffs, as most innovative promotional events. The were eliminated in the first two second was the continuing poor rounds, the exciting three-way race in the East the , Southwest Indoor Soccer League , Dallas to while the San Diego Sockerscruised leaving the 3rd place Sidekicks performance of Los Angeles Lazers easily in the West. which West, upset the Few surprises ensued Tacoma Stars in seven games, again finished last in the operating in the Texas/Oklahoma/New twice going to overtime. in the playoffs, although San Diego fought Mexico region. despite being in one of the league's An indoor soccer Five teams competed in the the Garland largest attendance record of 21,728 attended the market areas. At this point, inaugural season, with the a surprisingly close race with the below Genesis three top metropolitan areas featured a (which became theAddison final game. folded team and two teams at the Arrows mid-season) winning the league bottom For the first time in many seasons Steve Zungul was not top scorer. of their divisions. That award went to the young Tatu of the Dallas Sidekicks. title. The SISL would not become invo in as The league faced other challenges the salary war plaguing the MISL; the well. The The league sponsored a AISA, buoyed by its first start the league had been envision as a feeder system for the professiona successes, expanded into new territories tour by Moscow Dynamo , and perhaps .500 St. Louis Steamers. The championship series was one to leagues. and began to raid the MISL for players, due to their greater indoor experience, MISL teams won every game. war. This which lead to the start of a salaryThe MISL celebrated its tenth seaso Feeling the Strikers inspired a follow-up series two years later. pinch, the Minnesota by expanding the to 56 games and remember: a see-saw battle extending to received permission to suspend seven games with Minnesota Strikers The AISA expanded to two divisions, the signing a new TV contract with FNN/SCORE, which included a game of operations for 1987-88 to reorganize with last year s finalists, Canton and and San Diego Sockers taking turns the week, the all-star game, the enti their Louisville winning their divisions and finances through a "save the Strikers" That was followed trouncing each other. by two Minnesota victories and then three championship series and a weekly straight wins by San Diego to take the highlight show. title. It was the first time a team had rebounded from a 1-3 deficit to win it all. Early in the season, Steve Zungul became the first player in league and indoor history to score 1,000 points. San Diego Steve Zungul gain won s a the scoring title, with 55 goals and 60 he was feeling the effects of age and assists for 115 points, followed closely by the Sidekicks riding Tatu and high after the team's upset Erik Rasmussenof the Wichita Wings with 108 points and Branko Segota of San Diego with 106. victory over Tacoma in 1987. All earned places on theAll-Star team Zungul alsoMVP . won and top assist awards. Meanwhile, theAmerican Indoor relinquished his spot on the scorers Soccer Associationaw considerable s Erik Rasmussen and newcomers Preki, improvement on the field, although Jan Gossensand Chico Borja The San . attendance remained at just under 2,000 Diego Sockers returned to form, winnin per game. the league title and championship seri It remained the Canton Invaders show, as the team enjoyed the best regular season record (33-7) and 6 • March 2 003 • Goal Indoor Concluded in our next (May) issue