GO Indoor

RON NEWMAN(Cont.) not the best way to improve your knowledge of the game because you only play the tournament and then go back outdoors. The more you play indoors, the more scientific you get, but the NASL clearly had the best players." In 1980, Ron Newman left Ft. Lauderdale to take the coaching reins with the San Diego Sockers. Bob Bell, the Sockers' owner, was still unsure of the indoor game, and had not taken part in the NASL's debut season. He was worried about players getting injured, and the Sockers had several major stars Sanchez, Cuellar and others), so he paid the league $25,000 NOT to participate in the indoor season. But Newman was persistent, and Bell agreed to try The Sockers continue to play at the San Diego Sports Arena The fans were excited, and very importantly, the media was enthusiastic. Next year the Sockers went into the indoor season full tilt and won their first championship against a Tampa Bay Rowdies team that included Hugo Perez and Tatu. "I began to realize the different nuances of the game. And it became fascinating to tinker with the rules. When I talked to an National Hockey League coach one time, I was amazed at how little he did with line changes and realized I was way ahead of him: defen- sive runners, players coming off one end of the bench, going on at the other end, things he hadn't even thought of. So it became a sophisticated game from then on." it on an experimental basis for 1980-81 – but they wouldn't use any of their expensive stars, just the local players. That was fine with Newman. "I noticed that all the teams used their assistant coach- es to coach the teams. The head coaches were all over Europe recruiting players, but I didn't want to do this because I felt there was something unique about the game, I wanted to learn more about it, and I needed a lot of hands-on involvement – seeing what rules worked and what didn't, what I could or couldn't do." That season was a learning experience; the team went 6-12, being denuded of their best players, but it was an invaluable experience. Players didn't get injured, and owner Bob Bell loved the experience. The next big step was the following season, 1982- 83. The NASL dispensed with its indoor season, and three top teams participated in the MISL. For the first time, the top indoor talent played in one league. San Diego adapted easily to the longer sea- son, going 32-16 and winning the championship. There was some good and some bad from that sea- son. There was a great deal of jealousy between the two leagues at the top level. The playoffs went on endlessly, as games were postponed to the following weekend to maximize the gate. This led the cham- pionship series to extend beyond the start of the NASL season. The Sockers had to open their NASL season against Team America on a Saturday, play the final MISL Championship game on Monday, cele- brate & meet the Mayor on Tuesday, and play Toronto outdoors on Wednesday. The team was simply exhausted after the grueling indoor season (48 games plus a long playoff series), and they opened their NASL season with 2 wins and 12 loss- es. "I counted how many games I coached in a 12 month period, it game to 102 games. Nobody wanted to get up in an airplane, and neither did I. I couldn't face another road trip. I had to and did, but we were worn out something terrible. The two leagues wouldn't get together and organize. I real- ized then that you could be successful at indoor or outdoor but not both. Somehow we WERE suc- cessful at both. But it was just one game after another, and the knocks became a problem. We were pretty banged up." Newman felt strongly that the indoor and outdoor games had to be merged for both to succeed. A sin- gle league, running 12 months a year with a month off between seasons. Newman feels that if the United States Soccer Federation had taken the reins and orchestrated a merger – or at least cooperation between the indoor and outdoor entities – a year- long playing schedule could have been arranged which would have kept fan interest going through- out the year and greatly built interest in the game. "Ideally, you would have a 48-game indoor season, and a 30-game outdoor season. With the proper training, the players could easily handle three indoor games per week. But it would be essential to have at least 1 month between seasons, to give players time to readjust their conditioning for the upcoming sea- son." But the two leagues were fighting each other tooth and nail, and neither the USSF nor FIFA took the opportunity to orchestrate some cooperation between the leagues that would allow this to hap- pen. Through the next decade, the indoor game would prosper with large crowds, great spectacle and a lengthy reign as the top professional game in town. But the continuing rivalry between indoor and out- door entities, as well as between the various indoor leagues, would take its toll, and eventually lead to setbacks down the road. (to be continued!) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dave Litterer has been an active researcher into the history of American Soccer since high school. His American Soccer History Archives is the largest repository of American soccer history and statistics on the Internet (sover.net/~spectrum), and his Encyclopedia of American Soccer History (co- authored) is available at scarecrowpress.com. GOAL Indoor • August/September 2003 • 7

• Cover
• In this Issue
• History: Speaking with Ron Newman