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American Indoor Soccer League

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American Indoor Soccer League
Founded2002
Folded2008
Country United States
Last championsRockford Rampage
Websiteaisl.org

The American Indoor Soccer League was a semi-professional indoor soccer league founded in 2002 and folded in 2008.

History

[edit]

Founded in 2002, the AISL's headquarters were in West Springfield, Massachusetts, but the media relations office was in Cleveland, Ohio. The circuit positioned itself as a minor league and did not intend to compete with top-level indoor soccer.[1]

The league's inaugural match featured the Massachusetts Twisters defeating Connecticut Academica, 9–6, on January 4, 2003.[2] Four teams, Connecticut Academica, Massachusetts Aztecs, Massachusetts Twisters and New Hampshire Storm, played a six-match regular-season schedule in 2003, from January through March, followed by semifinal and final matches. The Canadian World Cup All-Stars, based in Laval, Canada were associated with the league but not eligible for the playoffs. Games played by league members against this team, frequently called Montréal, were friendlies and did not count in the league standings. The Aztecs finished the regular season 6–0 and won the championship with a 9–6 victory over Academica in front of a home sellout crowd on March 29, 2003.[3]

Late in 2003, the AISL announced it had secured several investors for expansion franchises and that, in order to prepare for the expanded league, the AISL would resume play for its second season in 2004–05.[4]

Only the Twisters returned for the 2004–05 season, and statements by the league indicating the number of teams would swell precipitously did not come to fruition. The Cincinnati Excite, Detroit/Windsor Border Stars and New Mexico Storm were added as expanion teams, leaving the league's size at four teams.[5] The Border Stars beat the Excite for the league title.[6]

The 2005–06 season started with promise, starting with six teams, but the New Mexico Storm and Detroit-Windsor Border Stars decided not to play in the AISL just before the season got under way. The decision of the Border Stars came very late; the AISL had already released a schedule that included them along with a yet to be named expansion team in Chicago.[7] Ultimately, the Chicago expansion team, which played its home games near Rockford, Illinois, was simply called Team Chicago. The Memphis Mojo joined the league during the 2005–06 season, and played a limited schedule but were not eligible for the AISL championship until 2006–07. Games against the Mojo in 2005–06 counted in the standings. Later in the season, another expansion club, the Rockford Thunder, began competing. Like the Mojo, the Thunder were not a league member and not eligible for the AISL championship, but games against them counted for their opponents in the standings.[8] The Excite won the final game of the AISL regular season at Massachusetts, beating the Twisters, 11–2, to finish 6–1 with the regular-season championship.[9] There was no postseason in 2006.[10]

In 2006, the league announced the membership of the Canton Crusaders,[11] but the team's membership was revoked after the ownership was unable to fulfill its financial obligations. The New York Hampton Surf also joined the league.[12] The team was initially named the New York Empire but changed its name before the start of the season. Team Chicago and the Memphis Mojo did not return for the 2006–07 season. The Rockford Thunder were admitted to the league as a full member, giving the league four teams. The Twisters finished first in the regular season and defeated the Excite in the championship game. The crowd of 1,920 was a new AISL attendance record.[13]

The AISL added the Northern Illinois Rebels[14] and Tulsa Revolution[15] for the 2007–08 season, while announcing the Hampton Surf franchise had been terminated.[16] The Thunder changed their name to the Rockford Rampage. Cincinnati and Massachusetts returned, giving the league an all-time high five teams. However, the Revolution played an abbreviated schedule and were not eligible for the AISL championship.[17] The Rampage finished first in the regular season and then defeated the Twisters in a rematch of the previous season's championship game.[18]

In 2008, with the Cincinnati Excite going on hiatus, and the Massachusetts Twisters and Rockford Rampage moving to the National Indoor Soccer League, the 2008–09 campaign was canceled. On December 23, 2008, all news stories were dropped from the website.

Rules

[edit]

Like many other indoor soccer leagues, the AISL also had their own variations on the generally-followed indoor soccer rules. Some of these variations were:

  • A point system that consisted of 1, 2, and 3 point goals, depending on how far away from the net the shot was taken.
  • No three lines rule.
  • One timeout per half per team.
  • Similar to the MSL, a goalkeeper could "...not use his hands when team-mate passes the ball back. Only after a shot from the opposing team, can you pass back to the keepers hands inside your third line. ( Rebounds, etc...) No direct pass back to keeper outside the third of field to hands."[19]
  • The clock did not stop unless the ball went out of play in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter.

Teams

[edit]
Team City/Area Arena Years
Cincinnati Excite Cincinnati, Ohio Game Time Indoor Soccer Training Facility[a] 2004–08
Canton Crusaders Canton, Ohio Canton Civic Center N/A
Team Chicago Rockford, Illinois Unspecified[b] 2005–06
Connecticut Academica FC Cheshire, Connecticut Sports Domain 2003
Detroit/Windsor Border Stars Windsor, Ontario Novelletto Rosati Complex[21] 2004–05
Massachusetts Aztecs Beverly, Massachusetts Soccer Etc.[22] 2003
Massachusetts Twisters West Springfield, Massachusetts Big E Coliseum 2003–08
Memphis Mojo Memphis, Tennessee Agricenter Showplace Arena 2005–06[c]
New Hampshire Storm New Hampshire 2003
New Mexico Storm Albuquerque, New Mexico Blades Multiplex Arenas 2004–05
New York Hampton Surf Long Island, New York Southampton Youth Sports Center 2006–07
Northern Illinois Rebels Waukegan, Illinois Lake County Sports Center 2007–08
Rockford Rampage[d] Loves Park, Illinois Victory Sports Complex 2005–08[e]
Tulsa Revolution Tulsa, Oklahoma Soccer City Indoor Sports Complex 2007–08
  1. ↑ The Excite played their home games at the Tri-County Soccerplex during their first two seasons.
  2. ↑ Team Chicago was scheduled to host Cincinnati on January 21, 2006, in their home opener at an unspecified venue in Rockford, Illinois.[20] The match was never played.
  3. ↑ Memphis joined the AISL during the 2005–06 season with the expectation that the team would become a full member in the 2006–07 season.[23] The Mojo played a match, losing to Cincinnati on February 11, 2006, in a game that counted in the standings for the Excite.[8] This was the only AISL match ever played by the Memphis Mojo.
  4. ↑ The Rockford Thunder changed their name to Rockford Rampage before the 2007–08 season.[24]
  5. ↑ The Rampage were a test franchise in AISL in the 2005–06 season and played as the Rockford Thunder.[8] The Thunder won their only match of the 2005–06 season at home against Cincinnati on March 4, 2006, a match which counted in the standings for the Excite.[25]

Previous champions

[edit]
Season Champion Score Runner-up Host
2007–08 Rockford Rampage 18–5 Massachusetts Twisters Rockford
2006–07 Massachusetts Twisters 11–5 Rockford Thunder Massachusetts
2005–06 Cincinnati Excite N/A No postseason held; Excite was regular-season champion.
2004–05 Detroit-Windsor Border Stars 4–1 Cincinnati Excite Windsor
2003 Massachusetts Aztecs 9–6 Connecticut Academica FC Massachusetts

Notable names

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Message from the AISL Commisioner, Paul LaPointe..." American Indoor Soccer League. Archived from the original on April 5, 2003.
  2. ↑ "The first game of the season kicks off with a BANG!". American Indoor Soccer League. January 5, 2003. Archived from the original on February 5, 2003.
  3. ↑ "Aztecs Capture AISL Championship, 9–6 Win over Connecticut Caps Memorable Season..." American Indoor Soccer League. April 3, 2003. Archived from the original on June 2, 2003.
  4. ↑ "If You Build It, They Will Come!!". American Indoor Soccer League. April 3, 2003. Archived from the original on December 19, 2003.
  5. ↑ "AISL 2004–2005 Schedule". American Indoor Soccer League. Archived from the original on December 4, 2004.
  6. ↑ "Border Stars Capture AISL Cup!". March 22, 2005. Archived from the original on April 1, 2005.
  7. ↑ "AISL 2004–2005 Schedule". American Indoor Soccer League. Archived from the original on November 25, 2005.
  8. 1 2 3 "After Hammering Mojo, Excite Look to Rock in Rockford". Off the Wall. American Indoor Soccer League. March 1, 2006. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 22, 2006.
  9. ↑ "Excite Calm Twisters, Win Regular Season Title with 11–2 Victory". American Indoor Soccer League. March 11, 2006. Archived from the original on May 21, 2006.
  10. ↑ "Come Celebrate With the Excite!!!". American Indoor Soccer League. March 14, 2006. Archived from the original on May 21, 2006.
  11. ↑ "AISL Welcomes Canton Crusaders". Archived from the original on April 5, 2006. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  12. ↑ "Start Spreading the News! AISL Announces Expansion to New York". American Indoor Soccer League. March 14, 2006. Archived from the original on May 21, 2006.
  13. ↑ "Twisters Fulfill 'Worst to First', Take AISL Title 11–5 over Rockford". American Indoor Soccer League. March 31, 2007. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007.
  14. ↑ "AISL Joins the 'Rebel-ution'—League Welcomes New Illinois Club". American Indoor Soccer League. April 9, 2007. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007.
  15. ↑ "AISL Now "Livin' on Tulsa Time"—Tulsa Revolution Welcomed As League's Newest Team". American Indoor Soccer League. April 26, 2007. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007.
  16. ↑ "AISL Announces Termination of New York Franchise". American Indoor Soccer League. June 13, 2007. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007.
  17. ↑ "Let the Games Begin! AISL Announces 2007–08 Schedule!". American Indoor Soccer League. August 6, 2007. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007.
  18. ↑ "Rampage Stampede Their Way to 2008 AISL Title!!". American Indoor Soccer League. March 15, 2008. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007.
  19. ↑ "AMERICAN INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE...this game rules!". Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  20. ↑ "After Hammering Mojo, Excite Look to Rock in Rockford". Off the Wall. American Indoor Soccer League. December 13, 2005. p. 2. Archived from the original on February 10, 2006.
  21. ↑ "AMERICAN INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE...this game rules!". www.aisl.org. Archived from the original on November 20, 2004. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 27, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. ↑ "Excite to Test Mojo's Mettle at Tri-County Saturday Night". Off the Wall. American Indoor Soccer League. February 22, 2006. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 23, 2006.
  24. ↑ "Let the Games Begin! AISL Announces 2007–08 Schedule!". American Indoor Soccer League. August 6, 2007. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007.
  25. ↑ "Rockford Brings Excite Down to Earth 9–8 in Overtime". Off the Wall. American Indoor Soccer League. March 8, 2006. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 23, 2006.
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