WHY SOCCER MATTERS if you’re from Cleveland

Soccer is the fastest upcoming sport in the USA and there no better time to join the movement. Before you say “Cleveland isn’t getting an MLS team in the next years, or the USA is never going to win the world cup”, Cleveland has a BIG history when it comes to the beautiful game. If you’re a true Clevelander that will “Defend the Land” til death…. you cannot ignore the sport any longer.

The city dubbed “Championshipland” for its sports success in 2016 has had a handful of glory in soccer prior to the year of 2016. Here is a look at all of the major honors of indoor soccer the Cleveland Crunch and Cleveland Force have had.

 

League championships
•1993–94 NPSL Champions
•1995–96 NPSL Champions
•1998–99 NPSL Champions

Division titles (Regular Season)
•1990–91 MSL Eastern Division
•1994–95 NPSL American Division
•1995–96 NPSL American Division
•1996–97 NPSL Central Division
•1998–99 NPSL Central Division
•1999-00 NPSL Central Division

Division/Conference titles (Playoffs)
•1991 MSL Eastern Division
•1993 NPSL American Division
•1994 NPSL American Division
•1996 NPSL American Division
•1997 NPSL American Conference
•1999 NPSL American Conference
•2000 NPSL American Conference

Most Valuable Player Award
•1992–93 Hector Marinaro
•1993–94 Zoran Karic
•1994–95 Hector Marinaro
•1995–96 Hector Marinaro (shared with Milwaukee’s Victor Nogueira)
•1996–97 Hector Marinaro
•1998–99 Hector Marinaro
•1999-00 Hector Marinaro

Scoring Champions
•1991–92 Zoran Karic, 102 points in 37 games
•1992–93 Hector Marinaro, 248 points in 38 games
•1993–94 Zoran Karic, 267 points in 36 games
•1994–95 Hector Marinaro, 255 points in 32 games
•1995–96 Hector Marinaro, 247 points in 33 games
•1996–97 Hector Marinaro, 265 points in 36 games
•1997–98 Hector Marinaro, 212 points in 36 games
•1998–99 Hector Marinaro, 195 points in 34 games
•1999–00 Hector Marinaro, 231 points in 38 games
•2000–01 Hector Marinaro, 161 points in 34 games

All-Star Game MVP
•1993 game in Cleveland, Zoran Karic
•1995 game in Buffalo, Zoran Karic (shared with Kansas City’s Brian Haynes)
•1999 game in Wichita, Zoran Karic
•2001 game in Buffalo, John Ball

Rookie of the Year Award
•1991–92 Tommy Tanner
•1994–95 Henry Gutierrez

All-Rookie Team
•1991–92 Tommy Tanner, 1st team
•1993–94 Troy Dayak, 2nd team
•1994–95 Scott Schweitzer, 1st team
•1994–95 Henry Gutierrez, 1st team
•1995–96 Todd Dusosky, 2nd team
•1996–97 John Ball, 1st team
•1997–98 Shawn Boney, 2nd team
•1997–98 Bo Simic, 2nd team
•2001–02 Marco Reda, 1st team
•2001–02 Justin Evans, 1st team

Or to sum it up, we’ve won 3 championships and arguably had the best indoor soccer players EVER including the “Wayne Gretzky” of indoor soccer Hector Marinaro. If you want to read more about the Crunch and their storied past, Andrew Keh explains it all a blog post here.

Not to mention the Cleveland Freeze whom made it to the PASL Semi-Finals in 2014 before losing to eventual champion Chicago. After a two year hiatus of not having an indoor soccer team in Cleveland, 25 year old entrepreneur and indoor soccer enthusiast Josh Auden brought indoor soccer back to Cleveland by forming the Cleveland Legacy. The team went unbeaten this year. And that’s just all of the success this team has had indoors. Our AFC Cleveland Royals are 2016 National Champions of the PASL (4th division of US Soccer). Their title defense begins May 13. Find more information about your NPSL Champions on their Official Website including details the team’s open tryout on April 30.

 

If you are a die hard Cleveland sports fan, you MUST support soccer in Cleveland