Getting to Know Your MASL Opponents - Chicago Mustangs

Founded: 2012

League Championships: 2014 (PASL)

Arena: Sears Centre (Hoffman Estates, IL)

History:

      The Chicago Mustangs is a brand that has been present in Chicago soccer circles since the late 1960's, when the original Mustangs played in the pinnacle outdoor league that was the NASL. After dropping from the professional ranks, they became an amateur team and then later a farm team for the powerful Chicago Sting of the NASL.

      After years of off-and-on again existence as a name brand, the Chicago Mustangs emerged again as an expansion team in the Premier Arena Soccer League. Immediately becoming a model organization on the field in the PASL, the Mustangs fielded players from the wealth of talent in Chicago's Hispanic community to round out an international roster that finished their first season 11-5. Despite on field success, performance at the gait was slow in coming in at their small venue. As the team kept winning in their second season they found crowds outgrowing the 1,000 seat Grand Sports Arena. By the time the Mustangs reached the league final, they were playing in the much larger Sears Centre and averaged nearly 4,000 fans in the playoffs. In that 2014 final, the Mustangs put on a dominant performance against Hidalgo La Fiera en route to winning the title by a 15-4 score. The PASL and MISL merger into the MASL came the next season, and all eyes of the indoor soccer world were on how the Mustangs would step up.

Today:

      The Mustangs rose to the challenge last season, making the playoffs in the MASL and giving the Milwaukee Wave all they could handle before falling in overtime to end their season. Having doubled their output at the gate every year, the Mustangs should have more resources at their disposal (and having upset Milwaukee to start the season, it appears they've invested wisely). Doubling their attendance this year would put them over 3,000 a game, which is where they will need to be to remain elite. Leader Hewerton Moreira was lost to the Cedar Rapids Rampage in the off-season, in a move that was done likely to distribute revenue and keep other key players. It doesn't hurt in drawing fans that the rather new Sears Centre is a gem of an arena for indoor soccer.

Notable Players/Coaches:

Alexis Camarena- A clutch goal scorer, the Mustangs have made Camarena their top target guy now that Hewerton is in the Rampage blue and gold. His two clutch goals in the 4th quarter of their season opener against Milwaukee sealed a 4-3 win.

Jesus Flores- The Chicago goalkeeper has emerged as one of the best in the MASL. Flores acrobatic saves often keep Chicago in every match. Masterful in the 2014 PASL final, it will take team efforts to beat him when he is hot.

Rampage Home Opener - The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Beautiful Game

Wanted to post some observations from the historic home opener of Cedar Rapids Rampage SC. Let's run down the best and worst...

The Good:

The attendance- Close to 4,000 in the crowd and often provided a tremendous atmosphere. No doubt it was the crowd that lifted CR to a three goal surge at the end of the first quarter. The energy in the building was palpable.

The accessibility of the field/players after the game- They should ALWAYS do this.

The Security- Having heard about incidents of overzealous security at Titans matches, it was a pleasant surprise that no such issues were reported at the Rampage.

The Merchandise- The jerseys, hoodies, and hats were all slick.

The Concessions- VERY good nachos and refreshing drinks.

MOST of the game- Showed Coach Kraft which positions needed to be upgraded (which he has) while remaining competitive into the 4th.

The Bad:

The music: Just that it was pretty much CONSTANT. Allowing the music to die once in a while allows the crowd to lend their voices. Don't underestimate the CR crowd. In the two moments the music did stop during play, organic chants DID emerge.

No giveaways for a souvenir- Even a small pocket schedule card would have been nice and given people something to think about for buying tickets next time.

The Ugly:

Those football lines- MLS learned this after a few years. Part of what soccer fans love is the aesthetics of a ball on a clean, solid surface. I HOPE the Rampage find either a new rug OR a way to cover/dim the football lines. The look of say the Comets turf is so much better: crisp and clean.

Getting To Know Your MASL Opponents - Missouri Comets

Originally Founded: 1979

League Championships:  1993, 1997 (both as "Kansas City Attack"), 2014

Arena: Silverstein Eye Centers Arena (Indpendence, MO)

History:

The Kansas City Comets, as they were originally known, came into being in 1979 after having been in Detroit as the "Lightning". By thew early '80s the Comets were the epitome of cool in the Kansas City metro area. From their rocking laser light show, electro-pop entrances to their ability to finish games, the Comets were an attraction that caught the imagination of their city. By 1984, the Comets averaged above 15,000 fans and were regulars in the MISL playoffs. Those teams of Gino Schiraldi, Jan Goosens, Gordon Hill, Greg Makowski and company inspired a legion of devoted fans (most famously Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl). One rookie who broke through on this star-studded team was defender Jeff Kraft, who has gone on to become the first head coach in Rampage history. Kansas City fell victim to it's own success before the dawn of the 1990s, and as attendance dropped, the franchise could not sustain it's budget under the revenue. When the AISA (later known as the NPSL) expanded in 1989, a new ownership group was awarded a franchise and the Kansas City Attack ensured there would be no stoppage of indoor soccer. The Attack were immediately competitive, reaching the semifinals their first year. By 1993, they were champions of the league. Routinely one of the best franchises by years end, the Attack developed a fierce and physical rivalry with another of the NPSL model teams, the St. Louis Ambush. The Ambush ended Kansas City's season in 1995 en route to their first title, and KC responded by doing the same to the Ambush two season's later before capturing the 1997 title. When the NPSL disbanded, Kansas City stayed alive as part of the new MISL, but back to single-point goals ushered a re-brand back to the Comets. After a hiatus late last decade, the now "Missouri Comets" returned to suburban Independence in the newly re-organized MISL.

Today:

The Missouri Comets are what you might call the closest thing to the New England Patriots of indoor soccer. From the iconic logos, the rise in stature through the 1990s, to the late blooming into a powerhouse franchise today, it's an analogy that works on many levels.Last season they added another chapter that reads like recent Patriot history: an undefeated regular season that fell short of a title. Despite riding a 2014 championship and a wave of momentum through the 2014-15 MASL season, the red-hot Comets could not overcome the Baltimore Blast in the division finals. Despite this fact, the Comets have to be favorites to take the MASL title back in 2016. Led by arguably the best coach in the league, with many of the best players in the league, and backed by the vocal and numerous Comets Nation supporters, the Comets are no doubt one of indoor soccer's elite franchises.

Notable players/coaches:

Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski is undoubtedly becoming one of the coaching giants of the American indoor and outdoor game. Besides leading the Comets to the 2014 championship and a 2015-16 undefeated regular season in the world's toughest indoor soccer league, you may have seen Andonovski on Fox Sports 1 this summer winning back-to-back championships as head coach of FC Kansas City of the NWSL. Here he is in the post-match press conference of the NWSL Championship Final, being praised by two women who won both a World Cup and a club title in 2015...

Liberian forward Leo Gibson was the most lethal weapon on a potent Comets team last year, winning the league MVP award in the process. Not surprisingly, Gibson led the league with 93 points on a remarkably balanced and league-leading 48 goals with 45 assists. As a teammate of Chile Farias and Hewerton Moreira, Gibson won a championship with the Detroit Ignition before joining Missouri and winning it all in 2014. It's hard to argue that Leo Gibson is not the best field player in indoor soccer today.

Captain and midfielder Vahid Assadpour is Mr. Consistency, rarely not scoring or assisting multiple times in a match. This midflield engine was also on the two championship teams as a teammate with Gibson on the 2009 Detroit Ignition and 2014 Missouri Comets.

Iowa soccer fans will remember Costa Rican midfielder Bryan Perez as the dead ball specialist of the Des Moines Menace a couple seasons back. Man of the Match on multiple occassions, Perez is a member of the US National Futsal team.

Getting to Know Your MASL Opponents - Detroit Waza

Founded: 2008

League Championships: None (PASL Eastern Winners in '12 & '13, Arena Open Cup '13)

Arena: Dort Federal Credit Union Events Center (Flint, MI)

History:

Detroit was once somewhat of a Mecca of indoor soccer. In the 1990's it was a year round attraction, boasting competitive teams in both the Detroit Rockers in the winter NPSL, and the Detroit Neon (later Safari) in the summer CISL. Led by former Chicago Sting legends Pato "Magic Man" Margetic of Argentina and the sweat-band wearing, chrome-domed Yugoslavian Drago Dumbovic (like many soccer icons, he became known by just one name: Drago), the Rockers reached the summit of indoor soccer by winning the 1991-92 NPSL Championship. Their successes both at the gate and on the field had convinced the power couple Michael and Marian Ilitch (founders of Lil' Caesars Pizza and owner of both the Detroit Red Wings and Tigers) to buy the Rockers and share Joe Louis Arena with his Red Wings.

When the 1994 World Cup was set to come to the USA, it was only appropriate that Detroit would showcase the world's greatest sporting event indoors, where the indoor game was most thriving. Shortly after it was announced that the Silverdome would become the first domed stadium to host a World Cup match, the Detroit was awarded a franchise in the one year old CISL. The CISL was formed by a group of owners in the NBA and NHL looking to add soccer tenants to their arenas in the summer months and capitalize on the soccer boom from World Cup 1994. The Palace Sports and Entertainment Group (owners of the Pistons) brought the franchise to play at The Palace of Auburn Hills. They lured Rockers stars Drago and Andy Chapman away from the Rockers with higher salaries, while Chrysler paid for the team to take on a Chrysler model as its name: the Detroit Neon. The Neon were a success at the gate, and narrowly missed the playoffs in their debut season. However, only 1996 saw the Neon make the playoffs (giving eventual champion Monterrey fits before bowing late in the final game of their series).

                                    ABOVE: Detroit Ignition celebrate 2008-09 championship.

The CISL was no more by the late 1990's due to owner differences, while the NPSL did not last long into the next decade either. In their place came the newly reformed MISL and the Detroit Ignition. The Ignition took up residence at the sparkling, suburban Compuware Arena and became an elite organization for a city whose economy was being battered. Despite crowds nearly half of those for the organizations that preceded them, in an arena a fourth as large, the Ignition thrived on the field. They reached the title game in their first season of 2007 and won a championship in their final season, 2009.

Today:

Detroit Waza Flo (aka Detroit Waza or Detroit Flo) was formed by veteran players, and former Detroit Rockers, the Scicluna brothers in the lower league PASL and moved up to the MASL in the indoor league merger of 2014. They had a rough season in the step up, however they pulled off some surprises on some established powers and were rarely outclassed under head coach and former champion Rocker, Costea Decu. This year they become a part of the downtown Flint renaissance and have moved into the mutli-million dollar renovated Dort Events Center. While their attendance plummeted after their first season as their home city hemorrhaged residents, they have grown in popularity three straight years to crowds occasionally eclipsing a thousand. Despite becoming essentially a small market team, the Waza have lived up to their nickname "Waza": both the Japanese version of the word meaning "good technique" and the Swahili version of the word meaning to "think clearly". Their technique and smart business acumen have allowed the organization to survive and look to hone that technique into a playoff position.

Notable Players/Coaches:

Dominic Scicluna - Back after a mid-season trade to Las Vegas last year, player/assistant coach/co-owner "Dom Waza", as he is affectionately known, is a Detroit soccer icon. Scicluna was the hungry rookie on that 1992 Rockers championship team, and is now the veteran with a deft and sometimes dazzling touch on the ball. A natural showman and tireless promoter, the long-locked Scicluna often displays his notable freestyle skills, such as in this Ford commercial on Michigan TV...

Worteh Sampson - A former champion with the Ignition, Sampson has been terrorizing indoor defenses for years, playing in three indoor finals (in '07, '09, and '11).

Getting To Know Your MASL Opponents - St. Louis Ambush

Originally Founded: 1992

Championships: 1995 (NPSL)

Arena: Family Arena - St. Charles, MO

 





History:

St. Louis has a rich soccer history that goes back to the immigrant community known as "The Hill", where many of the famous 1950 United States' World Cup team came from. During the middle of the twentieth century, St. Louis became known as the soccer capital of the United States. It comes as no surprise then, that St. Louis has a rich history in the indoor game. Two brands have traded off over the years as the pinnacle of St. Louis professional soccer: the Steamers and the Ambush.

The indoor team that first captured the hearts of St. Louis was the St. Louis Steamers of the MISL. Founded in 1979, the Steamers were a flagship franchise for the MISL which would reach a zenith in the 1980s. The Steamers would break the indoor attendance record during the 1981-82 season at St. Louis Arena, with over 19,000 fans vs. Denver, and over 17,000 for an average attendance. Cardinal baseball great Stan Musial headed an ownership group that saw the Steamers rise. Off field success translated to on field success as St. Louis captured two division championships and fell just short in the 1982 finals. The Steamers would be no more by the late 1980s, as the MISL struggled to parlay those crowds in the early part of the decade into long-term success.

In 1992, the St. Louis Ambush were formed in the growing NPSL, with its multiple-point scoring system that awarded 1, 2, and 3 point goal lines (meant to encourage the more visually pleasing long-distance strikes). The Ambush too became a success on and off the field. Crowds often eclipsing 10,000 a match saw the Ambush reach four NPSL Championships, winning their lone title over Harrisburg Heat (also in today's MASL) in 1995. With the rise in popularity of the outdoor Major League Soccer in the late 1990s, the best players began leaving the NPSL. When crowds dwindled to under 5,000 a match in 2000, the Ambush folded a year prior the NPSL disbanding.

The Steamers were then resurrected in the new incarnation of the MISL in 2000, and held strong at an average of 5,000 spectators per match. In 2006, the Steamers lost the MISL Championship in heartbreaking fashion at a packed Scottrade Center and on ESPN2, on an overtime golden goal by the Baltimore Blast. The following year the Steamers would again be no more, and major indoor soccer was not present in St. Louis again until the Ambush were resurrected in 2013.

Today:

The Ambush are a well-run organization that mirror the Rampage in many ways. They too are run by a young owner who also owns an indoor football franchise, Andrew Haines. They too are social media savvy and do well at public relations. The Ambush's average attendance rose in their sophomore season to over 6,000 at the aptly named Family Arena in suburban St. Charles, right off the highway and a quick trip from CR (clocking in at just under 4 hours. No need to even go into St. Louis). This proximity sets up a natural rivalry with Cedar Rapids, but maybe more-so a
"soul brothers" alliance between fans, much like Chicago and Portland in MLS. The Ambush Army are a vocal and dedicated group of supporters that bring atmosphere to games in St. Louis. The kind of atmosphere that Rampage SC hope to emulate. Results on the field improved as well in their second year, going from 6th in year one, to 5th in the division last year.

Notable players/coaches:

Head Coach Daryl Doran is the Cal Ripken Jr. of indoor soccer. No one played more games at the highest level of indoor soccer in the US than him. As defensive midfielder and player-coach with the Ambush, Doran would win the 1994 NPSL Coach of the Year, the 1995 NPSL Championship and, the 1997 NPSL Defender of the Year Award. 

Midfielder Jeff DiMaria is the veteran presence, having played previously with the Steamers as well as the Colorado Rapids of MLS.

Forward Gordy Gurson of Buffalo Grove, IL was a three time All-American at Robert Morris and is the young goal scoring phenom who put up some impressive scoring numbers last year, en route to winning the 2015 MASL Rookie of the Year Award. He will be a handful for defenses around the league.

Top 10 things Cedar Rapids Rampage SC can do to be successful...

Okay, this isn't a top ten list like a certain beloved, recently retired, late night talk show host. This is serious business here. As in how to succeed in business as an MASL franchise in Cedar Rapids. Some of these are a bit obvious or Sports Franchise 101 but it's important to get these right. Here they are ranked in order of importance...

10) Sign a local player - Part of what has brought fans to Titans games is seeing Iowa players continue their careers at home. Now, this can't quite be replicated in soccer, but it wouldn't hurt to give Lance Rozeboom or Ian Christianson a call (though being on the Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS' reserve squad might hinder that) and make them the face of your franchise. Or you could see who the next Iowa football Tavian Banks that was a solid soccer player and give them a ring. It wouldn't hurt to put butts in the seats.

9) Camps - Now this seems like a no-brainer, but you've got to get as many of those corridor youth and soccer moms and dads that were mentioned at the franchise announcement to go to smartly priced camps and clinics. I say smartly priced because this is as much advertising your brand as it is another source of revenue. Pricing should make it profitable, but also send the message that this is the people's team.

8) Stylish Merchandise - This may seem like a trivial thing, but the little things can have a huge impact. All sports are tribal, but especially soccer. Tribes want to wear their symbols and colors and want to do it in a way that espouses their identities. Use the city iconography of Cedar Rapids. Make shirts, hats and jerseys stylish and appealing. The jersey is more important to get right than in any other sport because a higher percentage of fans buy the jersey in soccer than  in other sports. Hockey may be a close second, but you can't wear a hockey jersey in as many places and they are quite expensive. The jersey can act not just as another revenue stream, but as a great advertisement for your sponsor and your team. Get this right: Simple, classic, but not completely boring.

7) Engage the Hispanic community - I can't emphasize this point enough. This is a whole segment of the population that really doesn't show in force at other events as they are not catered to. The key here is that soccer is THEIR sport, it is #1. This is like arena football moving in for your Anglo-Saxon, fourth generation Iowan. Market to them via outlets they frequent/listen to/watch and do it in Spanish as well. Sign at least one very good Hispanic player. Show up at their events. Have a Latin Heritage night. This is one area soccer demographics differ from other sports, so make it work in your favor. They would also appreciate...

6) Create indoor leagues - Get BOTH kids and adults playing. There is a serious lack of indoor soccer opportunities in Cedar Rapids, especially for adults. Leagues for all ages gets people more engaged and introduces another revenue opportunity. Make different t-shirts with the Rampage logo and a number for the teams (gets that logo out in public), heck even call it the "Rampage Reserves League" and mine talent from it eventually. Make players feel a connection to the club.

5) Don't forget the grown-ups - A huge portion of soccer fans are young when compared to the other sports, and in that lovely marketing sweet-spot of being in their twenties and thirties. Make the Rampage THE place to be for these people on cold winter nights. Be innovative and active on social media. Do fun giveaways. Drink specials, ladies nights (don't underestimate the power of your female fans. They will drive your male fans on the fence), live music, etc. But like anything, this has to be balanced. Which leads to...

4) Be visible in the community - One thing the Titans do well is get out into the community. Get the Rampage players going to schools, parades, festivals, after-school programs, non-soccer camps, Newbo market on weekends, basically try not to let a public event or institution go by untouched. It is great free advertising and makes sure they don't forget you are there.

3) Be visible on TV/Radio/Media - Mediacom is already listed as a sponsor and this is fantastic. Hopefully Mediacom Connections 22 signs on to broadcast games on tape delay and (much like the Titans already do) and MAYBE even an away match in St. Louis or Milwaukee. There is just simply no way in creating repeat customers unless they see the product. Give a couple tickets away via a different outlet each week, so as to catch as wide a variety of people to just a taste of your product. But too many giveaways cheapens the product and makes customers lazy about spending. A little goes a long way. TV broadcasts advertise to them at home and gets them wanting to spend to see the product live.

2) Game presentation - If they do want to see the product live, don't drive them off. One of the major complaints of fans about the RoughRiders is the constant inundation of noise. Do NOT, for example, just have loud music running constantly over the PA. Now I'm not saying to never run music or sound effects over the PA, I'm just saying a little goes a long way. I am a hockey fan much more than a baseball fan, and yet one of the great things about a Kernels game is that one can actually carry on a conversation during the game. Something very difficult at RoughRiders games. Drums, horns, etc. during game play is great. Heck, the marketing wizards of the MLS attendance-shattering, Qwest Field-filling Seattle Sounders even have a marching band, the Sound Wave. Horns, drums, band music just creates an atmosphere that can't be duplicated. Just ask any college basketball or football fan. The Titans have done well with this.

1) Win - None of the above will be as successful without it. In fact, it is crucial for much of the above, and much of the little things above are crucial to it. People want to connect with that which gives them pride. They want to walk away entertained and satisfied. Winning goes a long way to doing that. The team on the field HAS to take precedent to achieve any long term success.

The Name and Logo revealed...

The new MASL team in Cedar Rapids is (drum roll, please)...

Cedar Rapids Rampage SC. Okay, myself and the two other founding amigos huddled together post-announcement, and here is what we determined was the best and worst of the new name and logo.

Name:

Pros - Related to Cedar Rapids (quite literally the rapids), alliterative, NOT euro-wannabe

Cons - Lacking originality (been done before), not a unique enough feature of the town.

Grade - We like the reference to the rampaging rapids that often are seen in a swelling Cedar River. Interestingly, it verges on the common theme in American soccer naming one's club after the natural disaster that devastated the home city (Chicago Fire based on the 1871 fire, San Jose Earthquakes on the quake of 1912, and now this which makes one think of the rampaging waters of the Flood of '08). For me, it also rings eerily similar to the Grand Rapids Rampage, a former Arena Football League team just down the road from where I lived as a teen (they used a rampaging Rhino in their crest). B-

Logo:

Pros - Classic soccer crest, the rampaging rapids over the letter "R", and is it just me, or do those rapids look an awful lot like a backwards "C"? As in "CR"?, the color scheme, the word mark.

Cons - A clear "CR" would be nice, no clear mascot, lacking unique city iconography, a little too like a cop badge.

Grade - Cons might be a little nit-picky (we had to list some) but they mean we can't give an "A". Reaction from us and others (judging by Facebook comments) was very good. Instantly one of the best logos in the MASL (we split on Dallas Sidekicks, Missouri Comets, and Milwaukee Wave logos as our favorites.) A-.

Overall Grade: B+. But names and logos have a way of growing on you. Certainly it could have been worse, we could have been United FC, Sporting, or (shudder) Real. We avoided those...phew!

MASL - A Past, Present, and Future History for Dummies...from this dummy.

As was mentioned in an earlier dispatch, many MASL clubs have surprisingly long and storied histories. Today we look at the history of indoor soccer as it pertains to where it started, where it has been to this point, and where it seems headed in 2015 and beyond. With nearly 35 years of professional indoor soccer in this country, there is so much more to be said than this brief summary. Simply Google the history of indoor soccer and you'll get some excellent exhaustive histories. However, this history will be perspective as it relates specifically to the current MASL with an eye towards the future of the league.

                                        ABOVE: Comets vs. Blast in the MISL circa 1982.

Past

Prior to the late 1970s indoor soccer was a mere exhibition phenomenon. For example, Madison Square Garden hosted large crowds for ASL teams in the 1930s, when immigrants fueled large crowds and demand for that league's product. But the real genesis of the modern indoor game comes from the NASL, that 1970s outdoor league of superstars that grew too big, too soon for its own good. It's existence came to be from NASL owners looking to attract new fans to the game with a fast paced, high scoring form of the game, that could fill arenas in winter months. The success of the first two NASL indoor "tournaments" (similar to the indoor tournaments the German Bundesliga sponsors) prompted the startup of a full indoor league, the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), in 1978. The Kansas City Comets and Baltimore Blast were teams of that original MISL who were later resurrected and are part of today's MASL. The new indoor league came at the right time, as the NASL and the soccer "fad" of the late 70s was reaching its zenith. Crowds packed arenas to watch this ultra-faced hybrid of the game as attendance doubled over the course of the first 4 seasons to over 8,000 a match by the 1981-82 season (an average it would maintain to nearly the end of the decade). In fact, it was at an MISL all-star game that the future Arena Football League was conceived.

The NASL, not wanting to miss out on the action, had their own teams play full seasons indoors starting in 1979. One team to take a liking to indoor soccer was the Rochester Lancers, who had been NASL Champions of 1970 in the outdoor game. In the leagues second indoor tournament in 1976, they made the championship final. They went on to lose the Tampa Bay Rowdies, but Rochester went back to the indoor game years later and are in the MASL today. But one team from the original NASL had even greater success moving to the indoor game. The San Diego Sockers continually fell just short of the finals in the outdoor game, but in the indoor game they became a dynasty. Beginning in the 1981-82 season, they would win 10 championships under head coach Ron Newman, becoming the unquestionable dynasty of indoor soccer in the 1980s. The MASL championship trophy bears Newman's name today, and the Sockers continue to compete in the current league, having gone through three different incarnations.

When the NASL collapsed as an outdoor league by 1985, many of the teams (such as the Comets and Blast) continued on by becoming a part of the MISL. By the early 1990's, as attendance dipped slightly, it was clear the league had become the haves and have-nots. After 1992, the league folded. Four of the seven teams carried on in two new rival leagues: the CISL and the NPSL. The National Professional Soccer League was a rival league in the mid-80s (known as the American Indoor Soccer Association until 1990) that introduced the concept of multi-point scoring, where there were one , two, or three point goals based on lines of distance from goal. It gained national exposure by becoming a regular league on the new espn2 network. This league produced a number of well-run franchises. The Milwaukee Wave started as a founding member in 1984 whose stability didn't bear championship fruit until the 1990s. It plays in the MASL as the longest continuously operated soccer club in the United States. The St. Louis Ambush and Harrisburg Heat were also solid franchises from that league that have been resurrected and now play in the MASL.

The Continental Indoor Soccer League was the brainchild of NBA and NHL owners looking to capitalize on the fact that soccer had hit a burst of popularity with the US outdoor national team having qualified for World Cup 1990 and hosting the same event in 1994. The indoor national team made the World Cup of Futsal Final in 1991 with many indoor stars as well. These owners saw soccer as a way to fill arenas in the summer months. Hence the CISL was the first indoor soccer league to be played in summer. Besides the season played in, the CISL also differed from the NPSL as it maintained the traditional 1 point per goal. It too flexed its muscle in landing a national TV deal with Fox Sports Networks. The Dallas Sidekicks were an MISL team that thrived in this new league. They won their second championship in the league's debut season of 1993, over fellow indoor heavyweights, the San Diego Sockers. The CISL, with the backing of powerful sports owners, saw a rise in attendance to nearly 7,000 average fans by 1996. However, serious differences of where the league should go forward doomed it to shut down after 1997, with many of its best players having gone on to be founding members of the newly created outdoor league (Major League Soccer or "MLS").

The rise of the new outdoor league and it's lower divisions began to overshadow the indoor game. The two competing leagues eventually collapsed into a new MISL (which ran on Fox Soccer Channel). They then saw another rift as teams departed for the decidedly cost conscious and smaller-venued PASL. Eventually, these teams as well as new organizations came back into the fold when they merged with a few remaining MISL teams into the current MASL.

ABOVE: Milwaukee Wave made (ahem) waves by introducing black turf to UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. The Wave are the oldest continuous soccer club in the United States.

Present

Currently, the MASL's challenge is how to run a national league that both makes a profit, and carves a new niche in the ever expanding world of outdoor soccer. The large market teams of the Milwaukee Wave, Dallas Sidekicks, St. Louis Ambush, and Missouri Comets have done well by downsizing out of their market's largest arenas and going into more intimate second-tier venues. For example, the Missouri Comets moved from Kansas City to Independence Events Center, with great success. St. Louis Ambush are thriving in the St. Charles' Family Arena (most famous as being the home of the MVC Women's College Basketball Tournament), where it is one of the league leaders  in attendance. In fact, the only one of the mentioned clubs from a downtown location is the Wave, who moved across the street from the Bradley Center to the smaller UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Non-traditional "major" markets like Harrisburg, Rochester, Syracuse, and Tacoma are bedrock teams in the league, playing in the biggest arenas in town and with deep roots in their communities.

ABOVE: The Missouri Comets draw well at the Independence Events Center in Independence, MO.

Future

The third and final frontier for league expansion seems to be this: go where the market's soccer dollars are not going to outdoor clubs. Hartford, Youngstown, Tulsa, Turlock-Modesto, Brownsville, Ontario and Cedar Rapids seem to be in this category. This strategy is risky in that these are not large markets in core city population, but it may be wise in that the indoor game can establish itself in decent sized, soccer-starved markets. Places where the ever growing outdoor game hasn't gotten its hands (or better yet feet) into. Early results seem mixed. Tulsa, Brownsville, and Turlock barely push a 1,000 spectators through the doors, while Wichita and especially Ontario are doing better. With many outdoor players now using indoor soccer as a way to make a living while in the lower divisions, the salary demands are not as great as they once were (a recent piece by the New York Times on the Cleveland Crunch of the early-90s noted that player salaries in the late 80s and early 90s would often be six figures for the bigger stars). However, with ESPN3 now on as a broadcast partner, filling arenas will be important to getting on television.

Cedar Rapids and the Technology Corridor of Iowa certainly fit the bill of a starving market. While the Des Moines Menace have consistently been at or near the top of the 4th division PDL's attendance figures, the closest foray outdoor soccer has made into Iowa's second largest market was the semi-pro Comets of the mid-1980s. The MASL is banking on the fact that the Titans can use their expertise at tapping into youth camps, sponsorship dollars, and attendance, to make the MASL a success in what is essentially the City of Five Seasons first foray into the soccer world. And you can't get a second chance at a first impression, so doing it right will affect the way residents view soccer in this area for years to come. In a coming installment, we will look at how they can make that first impression a positive one.


NOTE: Thanks to Kenn Tomasch and kenn.com/the_blog/ for some helpful corrections.

How the MASL SHOULD look in 2015...

The MASL should hyper-regionalize and play as four independent divisions to cut down on travel costs. Something like this...

Midwest: Missouri Comets, Milwaukee Wave, St. Louis Ambush, Chicago Mustangs, Cedar Rapids. Detroit.

Mideast: Youngstown Nighthawks, Rochester Lancers, Syracuse Silver Knights, Harrisburg Heat, Baltimore Blast

Southwest: Tulsa Revolution, Dallas Sidekicks, Oxford City, Wichita B52s, Barracudas of Brownsville, Saltillo, Sonora.

Pacific Coast: Tacoma Stars, Sacramento Surge, Turlock Express, Ontario Fury, San Diego Sockers.

No need for flights. Play each team in your division at least twice home, twice away. Top two in each division plays each other in divisional final series. Have a final four all in one night at one of the four finalists. Only one flight on the year, and for three of the four strongest teams. That's a structure that works, right there. 

Major Arena Soccer League puts the "Major" in Cedar Rapids a bit more than you may know...

Let's make a bold statement here: Cedar Rapids new pro soccer team at the US Cellular Center is the biggest sports team to take root in this city. Will it have the staying power of the Kernels? They can only wish. Will they get mentioned on national broadcasts of the biggest league like the Roughriders? Wishful thinking. Will it produce a superstar once every decade or so as the Kernels or Roughriders do? Probably not. Will it have the attendance figures of the Titans? Let's not kid ourselves, this is football (American style) country. Do any of those teams have players one step below the pinnacle of their sport, have a number of franchises that were once nationally televised big league teams, or will any of the others have games broadcast nationally on ESPN3 and WatchESPN? Don't think so. There will be a whole new nation of sports fans this winter for whom Cedar Rapids will become relevant.

MASL can rightly lay claim to being the "Major" league of it's sport. And before one jumps on the fact that most of it's players are second division NASL, third division USL Pro, or fourth division NPSL outdoor players supplementing their income in the winter, there are still a number of players for whom indoor soccer is their dream. Players who grew up in cities where the indoor game was bigger than the outdoor version, like Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore, Wichita, Harrisburg, Tacoma and Buffalo. The kids who passionately supported these franchises are now men who have made long careers playing in the MASL (most notably Danny Waltman of Tacoma and Dominic Waza of Las Vegas), hardly batting an eyelash at the outdoor game. No other visiting teams to Cedar Rapids will have players who've been at the pinnacle for as much time as Byron Alvarez or Josh Gardner when the Missouri Comets come to town. Or Tony Walls and Mike Lookinglad of Milwaukee Wave. Or Jeff DiMaria of the St. Louis Ambush. Guys who have played competitive matches on MLS squads. Teams coming to CR will have both future professionals and professional once-was's. And unlike the IFL, the MASL is the pinnacle of its sub-genre of sport.

The MASL holds claim to the longest continuously operating soccer club in the Milwaukee Wave (established in 1984), a number of clubs established in indoor soccer's mid-'80s to early '90s heyday (Harrisburg Heat, Baltimore Blast, St. Louis Ambush, Missouri Comets, Tacoma Stars, and Dallas Sidekicks), as well as two franchises that started all the way back in the original outdoor NASL of Pele, Beckenbauer, the New York Cosmos and the Chicago Sting (namely the Rochester Lancers and San Diego Sockers). So while the structure of the MASL has changed recently (from the merger of the newer PASL and the older MISL), most of its franchises are not fly-by-night operations, but have a significant history in their communities.

We will look at this history of the MASL, where it has been and where it is headed, more in our next installment. But for now we know it's headed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The city of Five Seasons will be a part of the next chapter of its history. A history which is far longer, far more colorful, and far more "major" than many Eastern Iowans might realize.

ABOVE: Pele playing with the New York Cosmos against the Rochester Lancers, now of the MASL which is coming to Cedar Rapids.

BELOW: The Chicago Sting battle the San Diego Sockers at Wrigley Field. The San Diego Sockers became an indoor dynasty and currently play in the MASL.

In the beginning...

I am willing to wager that I am the only dyed-in-the-wool, Hawkeye-haearted, farm-loving Iowa boy whose first love in professional sports was the (drum roll please) Detroit Neon. I can hear the collective "Who?" ring out now. Let's trace this back and bring us to how this year will be momentous for myself and other Eastern Iowa soccer fans.  

One of my earliest memories was on a sunny summer day sometime in the mid-80's. My parents brought me to a park (some say Jones) and sat under the pavilion with their friends to socialize. Only the gathering was for something called the Cedar Rapids Comets. As I peered out from the shade, and as the adults talked, I was fascinated by what I saw. I have only a snap shot of that moment in memory, but it was of the goal in front of me and slightly to my right being attacked and ultimately bulged by a strike from a Comets forward. I don't know why this sticks with me, but it does like few sports memories have. Perhaps its because its the moment I became a sports fan.

Fast forward to 1994 and a move to Michigan that had happened a year before. It was my first summer back in Iowa. The back page of the Gazette was laid out and my Dad was showing me the details of the World Cup, about to kick off that week in the USA. I had no idea it was coming. Soccer had came and went (after two years of playing in 3rd and 4th grade) in seemingly a fleeting a fashion as that memory of the Comets. I was a dedicated baseball fan, going back to our family season tickets to the Cedar Rapids Reds, who managed to become successful in those intervening years. But baseball had betrayed me in the previous year, having gone on strike. I was still bitter, and like a man going back to a lover who had jilted them, my eyes were open. Enter that summer and that magical World Cup, with its Stoichkovs, its Baggios, and its resurgent team USA. The faded spark lit at that CR Comets match was given new flame. 

MLS was not yet there to capitalize on this soccer surge. The A-League had a huge upswing in those years of 1994-'96, but it was a second division league. There was no franchise in nearby either at that time. I had to look elsewhere for a club. That elsewhere was the Palace of Auburn Hills and the Detroit Neon. The CISL was launched by NBA owners wanting to fill their buildings in summer with no big-time outdoor league. Luckily, the Pistons had one of those owners. Playing against the remnants of the great NASL (which I will get to in a coming piece) the Neon were led by a bald Eastern European maestro nicknamed "Drago". Drago and the Neon were one of the best teams in the CISL, on and off the field. Watching every game on PASS Network, I played as the Neon everywhere. I used our trees as a goal outside, even got our carpet in the basement to be a green turf-like monstrosity that friends would help me clear furniture out for our arena (my mom suffered some broken furniture as casualties to this obsession). It was big time to me, and it seemed big time a lot of places in that post-World Cup pre-MLS couple years. It was featured in sports magazines, catalogs carried team gear, and matches were shown on national television from across the country.  

Alas, MLS came into the picture, outdoor soccer slowly took root in the US with the best players choosing to ply their trade there, and indoor soccer was on the decline. Now, here I am, back in Cedar Rapids, my boyhood home, and we have this in Cedar Rapids, we will face Detroit (now the Flo) and Milwaukee, and Missouri. I hope there are many kids that be as wide-eyed as I was as that boy at the park. It's no coincidence that first club experience sticks out. I feel like I probably would not have been a fan had I not had a team I felt was my own. Now kids across the Tech Corridor of Iowa, from Waterloo-Cedar Falls, to Iowa City-Coralville, to Cedar Rapids can have that moment. Hopefully, their parents furniture can survive beyond this winter.