National Soccer League (indoor)
Encyclopedia
History

The National Soccer League is a proposed indoor soccer
Indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer, or six-a-side football in the United Kingdom, is a game derived from association football adapted for play in an indoor arena such as a turf-covered hockey arena or skating rink. The most important difference in play is that the indoor field is surrounded by a wall...

 league scheduled to begin play in the summer of 2008 / (TBD). So far the league has played two NSL Select games in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 and Laredo, Texas
Laredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...

to test interest.

The league is also exploring the possibility of having a separate Canadian league that would play in the winter.

The league has spent many years in development. As of March 27, 2003, its website (www.nationalsoccerleague.com) touted 20 regular-season games from June to September 2004. By May 23, 2003, the time frame had shifted to June–September 2005, and by January 30, 2004, the league was attempting to play 20 regular-season games from June to September 2006.

On December 6, 2004, the league issued a release that it was setting a deadline for owners to establish teams for its first season, which would be played in 2006. "We've been very diligent about taking our time putting this league together," said NSL President Sydney Nusinov in the release. "You only get one shot at a successful launch and we want our league and teams to have a healthy base from which to grow and so we have set up a very strict timeline that must be followed."

Exactly one year later, on December 6, 2005, the first season was pushed back to 2007, but with exactly the same comment from the league president in the release: "We've been very diligent about taking our time putting this league together," said NSL President Sydney Nusinov. "You only get one shot at a successful launch and we want our league and teams to have a healthy base from which to grow and so we have set up a very strict timeline that must be followed."

More recently, on April 11, 2006, the NSL issued yet another release pegging the start of its first season at 2008, and this time included a different quote from its president: "We're making this sacrifice now for the long-term viability of the league once it's fully operational," said NSL President Sydney Nusinov. "It's better that these short term losses come out of my pocket than for long term losses to come out of our owners' pockets."

Doubt about the eventual play of the NSL occurred in May 2008 when NSL President Sydney Nusinov was named Director of Media Relations for the new Professional Arena Soccer League.
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