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28-652: The club originally started in 1989 as the Phoenix Hearts in the original indoor SISL league. They made an immediate impact on the league when they went to the 1989–1990 SISL indoor championship before falling to the Addison Arrows . Hearts coach Peter Baralić was named Coach of the Year. They changed their name to the Arizona Cotton in 1992 and played both indoor and outdoor for one more year in

56-567: A football field would look like on the back of a 9x12 manila envelope. That inspiration gave birth to the concept now known as arena football (also indoor football ) and the AFL was born six years later. Foster credits the MISL for the inspiration. *Three North American Soccer League (NASL) teams temporarily joined the MISL for the 1982–83 season, as the NASL did not play indoors for that season. As

84-564: A semi-professional indoor and outdoor season. By 1995, the outdoor season had grown to such a size that the USISL, as it was known at the time, split the league into two levels, the aptly named, fully professional Professional League and the semi-professional Premier League. In 1996, the USISL added a third, higher, Select League. This was formed from the strongest teams from both the Professional and Premier League. The Select League, along with

112-683: A significant contribution to the Sahuaros franchise by bringing in many talented players and winning many significant games in the different leagues. In 2016, the Sahuaros were renamed Sporting AZ FC. T hey joined the UPSL on January 8, 2017, and were placed in the Arizona Conference along with the Arizona Scorpions FC, El Salto United FC & Super Inter AZ. Sporting AZ FC won the Arizona Conference in their 1st season in

140-607: A single games in 1987, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1998. The champions were determined by a best of three series in 1998 and a best of five series in 1989, 1990 and 1991 and a home-and-home series in 2012 and 2013. In 1989, the Southwest Indoor Soccer League added a summer, outdoor season known as the Southwest Outdoor Soccer League. In 1990, the league dropped both "indoor" and "outdoor" from its name as it ran both

168-801: Is an organizer of soccer leagues in the United States. It operates several men's and women's leagues, both professional. Men's leagues currently organized are the USL Championship , USL League One , USL League Two , and the youth league, USL Youth . A women's league, the USL W League , began play in 2022. It is directly affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation and the United States Adult Soccer Association . The USL

196-582: Is headquartered in Tampa, Florida . Founded in 1985 by Francisco Marcos, the Southwest Indoor Soccer League was first intended as a minor indoor league associated with Major Indoor Soccer League . The league began with five teams, all owned by individuals who owned or operated indoor soccer arenas in the Southwest United States. League headquarters was in Austin, Texas. In 1986, Marcos' team,

224-624: The Austin Sockadillos , entered the league giving it six teams. By 1989, the league had set its sights on greater prospects than remaining a small, semi-professional indoor league. A 1989 press release stated, "It is envisioned the league will be part of the USSF's plan to professionalize soccer in the USA prior to the 1994 World Cup, and the league plans to push its teams to be considered for the "three-tiered first, second and third divisions" plan

252-630: The Continental Indoor Soccer League . The concept was initially so popular that in 1981, it helped pave the way for the creation of another indoor sports league, the Arena Football League , and subsequently the entire sport of indoor "gridiron" football. During the MISL All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden, National Football League promotions director Jim Foster sketched a design of what

280-721: The USISL , before joining the amateur USISL Premier League in 1995. In 1992, they again went to the final of the USISL Indoor season, losing to the Atlanta Magic . The Arizona coach, Zelimar Antonievic, was named Coach of the Year. In 1996, the team became the Arizona Phoenix . In 1997, they changed their name again, this time to Arizona Sahuaros , and moved up to the USISL D-3 Pro League . In 1998,

308-551: The 1997–98 season, only five teams remained indoors while the outdoor season had over a hundred teams divided into a three-division structure. This led the league to stop running an indoor league. In 2010, the USL began to consider relaunching an indoor season. However, it decided instead to take over operations of the Major Indoor Soccer League ; beginning indoor operations in 2011. The champions were determined by

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336-670: The First and Second Divisions were merged to become USL Pro . MISL I The Major Indoor Soccer League ( MISL ), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League , was an indoor soccer league in the United States that played matches from fall 1978 to spring 1992. The MISL was founded by businessmen Ed Tepper and Earl Foreman in October 1977. The league fielded six teams for its inaugural 1978–79 season. Before folding after 14 seasons of competition, at

364-484: The MISL granted a conditional franchise to NBA Denver Nuggets owner Sidney Shlenker , to commence play in the 1988–89 season. When the tentative "Denver Desperados" attracted deposits on 400 season tickets, rather than the required 5,000 within four months, the franchise was revoked in November 1987. * Single-game championship, game score rather than series results. (9,500 minutes minimum) The Pass Master award

392-630: The MISL had some success. The league averaged a respectable 7,644 fans per game over its 14 regular seasons, and averaged 9,049 fans per game over its 14 playoff runs. The league changed its name to the Major Soccer League (MSL) in 1990, and then folded in 1992. Four of the league's seven franchises continued to operate: Cleveland Crunch and Wichita Wings joined the National Professional Soccer League ; Dallas Sidekicks and San Diego Sockers helped found

420-515: The NASL was folding in 1985, four of its former teams (Chicago, Minnesota, New York and San Diego) joined the MISL in late 1984. The "Denver Avalanche" had declared bankruptcy and ceased operations after the 1981–82 season, but the franchise still existed and was purchased out of bankruptcy and moved to Tacoma after a dormant season. The MISL, however, considered the Stars a new franchise and, thus, team records did not transfer to Tacoma. In June 1987,

448-648: The Sahuaros front office named 3 player coaches to take over the Sahuaros Professional franchise, Mate Kozul (Head Coach), Edson Rico and Roger Salazar (Assistant coaches). With their connections in the Valley they assembled a strong team of former HS Gatorade Players of the Year, College All Americans and National JUCO Champions from Yavapai College. That year the Sahuaros were crowned the Western Division Champions and coach Matt Kozul

476-603: The UPSL Division 1 title. In season 2023, the Club has fielded the two teams in the inaugural Southwest Premier League – Arizona Premier. Sporting Arizona coached by Omar Ledesma has won the league with SAFC Sahuaros coached by Eric Junis Aguilar taking second place. Since 2021, Sporting Arizona FC has been the exclusive 'path-to-pro' partner of State 48 FC , Arizona's fastest growing youth and community soccer development club. SISL United Soccer League ( USL )

504-604: The UPSL, moving on to the UPSL National Quarterfinals. The team was led by head coach Tim Marchisotto and standout goalkeeper Jake Rybicki. 2018 saw the team raise the bar again, with Marchisotto moving into the general manager role and the addition of Aidan Davison as head coach. The duo achieved success with the team. Sporting AZ won the new Southwest Conference of the UPSL and went to the UPSL Championship game. In January 2020, "Sporting AZ FC"

532-500: The USSF envisions for soccer." The USL began operations in 1986 as the Southwest Indoor Soccer League, a semi-professional indoor league. The league quickly expanded and added an outdoor season in 1989. In 1991, the league renamed itself the United States Interregional Soccer League. By then, the outdoor league overshadowed the indoor league which continued to slowly dwindle in importance. By

560-678: The competing A-League , both received official Division II status from FIFA. However, the A-League was in decline while the USISL was expanding. In 1997, the A-League ceased operations and merged into the USISL Select League which was renamed the USISL A-League. From that point, the USL's three-level structure remained stable until 2010. Some teams left to start the North American Soccer League and

588-510: The conclusion of the 1991–92 season, a total of 24 franchises – under 31 team names (seven teams changed city/name) – had played in the MISL. Over its life, MISL teams were based in 27 different cities – with two different teams, at different times, playing in Cleveland, Ohio ; East Rutherford, New Jersey ; St. Louis, Missouri ; and Uniondale, New York . The Houston Summit (1978–80)/ Baltimore Blast (1980–92) franchise

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616-400: The first and last seasons. The San Diego Sockers was the most successful franchise, winning eight of the MISL's 14 overall championships during the team's nine seasons in the league. The New York Arrows won the MISL's first four championships, then folded after the league's sixth season. The most successful player in the MISL is arguably Steve Zungul , a Yugoslav American striker who

644-478: The spring would see the end of the league's two-year deal with the USA Network , CBS would broadcast a playoff game live from Cleveland on May 7 that drew an estimated four million viewers. One game during the 1983–84 season was televised on CBS (Game 3 of the championship series on June 2) as well. 1984–85 would be the final year the MISL would have games aired on network television, CBS broadcast Game 4 of

672-601: Was MISL Most Valuable Player six times, was the Scoring Champion six times, the Pass Master (most assists) four times, played on eight championship-winning teams (and one runner-up), and won Championship Series Most Valuable Player four times. Zungul is the MISL's all-time leader in goals (652, nearly 200 ahead of the second highest scorer), assists (471, nearly 100 ahead of second) and points (1,123, nearly 300 ahead of second). Despite ongoing financial hardships,

700-693: Was given out to the player with the most assists during the regular season. This award was given to 'the most outstanding player in his first year of competition in the Major Indoor Soccer League' in order to differentiate it from the Rookie of the Year award. This award was given to the player 'in the Championship Series whose impact to his team's success was measured by hustle, determination and leadership.' The MISL made inroads on national television in 1982–83 . While

728-600: Was named USISL Coach of the Year. After the 2002 season, the Sahuaros left the USL D-3 Pro League and helped form the new Men's Premier Soccer League , finishing the season as champions in the first year. The Sahuaros competed in the NPSL until 2004, after which the club chose to play in USASA affiliated leagues. They re-joined the NPSL in 2008. In 2003–2009, the Sahuaros hired Petar Draksin as their head coach, he made

756-487: Was renamed Sporting Arizona FC and with the new name came a new ownership. The club continues the same original traditions as a development pathway for players and coaches to reach the professional ranks. In seasons 2021 and 2022, the Club fielded two teams in the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) – Sporting Arizona FC and SAFC Sahuaros . Sporting Arizona FC coached by Eric Junis Aguilar won

784-565: Was the only one to compete for the entire 14 seasons of the MISL's existence. The next longest-lived franchise, and the longest in a single city, was the Wichita Wings team, which played for 13 seasons and missed only the inaugural 1978–79 season. The third longest-lived franchise was the Detroit Lightning (1979–80)/ San Francisco Fog (1980–81)/ Kansas City Comets (1981–91) franchise, which played for 12 seasons, missing only

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