Indoor soccer season set to kick off in January

Sex Panthers?

It was 1-1 and the Washington Diplomats were pushing to break the tie with the New York Cosmos. For the past several seasons, the Cosmos, complete with Giorgio Chinaglia, Franz Beckenbauer and Pele, had lit up the Diplomats time and time again. But this was different. The Diplomats were surging at this point in the season and the Cosmos were struggling to manage the immense egos on their roster. Furthermore, the game was at the Diplomats home field, RFK, and there were over 54,000 fans.

I know, bizarre, 54,000 fans at a soccer game. This was the 1970s though and it was the heyday of the North American Soccer League (NASL). Besides, Pele was playing.
At any rate, Sonny Askew of the Diplomats broke free on a pass to score and break the tie and the fans went wild. It was complete bedlam. Then, the goal was waved off as the linesman called Askew offsides and all hell broke loose. So much so that a fan hucked a bottle (yes, they used to serve glass bottles of beer at sporting events) from way high up in the stands and nailed the linesman right in the head. He crumpled to the ground completely knocked out, bleeding, and was carried off in a stretcher.
The Cosmos eventually won the game 2-1 and two days later I was getting a haircut from our local Greek barber. I recounted the scene and he fessed up. It was he who threw the bottle, at which point his fellow barbers congratulated him.
Things are still insane in the soccer world. In fact, this past year a referee in Brazil stabbed a player during a game, only to be beheaded and quartered—at which point his head was placed on a stake and carried around the field.
On the positive side of things, interest in soccer in the United States is at an all-time high and the United States Men’s National Team qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Soccer has seen a resurgence of interest even in Crested Butte. Last year more than 50 players signed up for the inaugural indoor soccer season with the team Sex Panthers? winning the title.
“They really came out of nowhere,” says indoor soccer league volunteer coordinator Drew Canale. “They brought their A game to the playoffs.”
With all of that in mind, don’t you want to lace up the shoes and take part in some of the magic?
That’s right, the indoor soccer league is back this year and opens with registration on Monday, January 6 at the Crested Butte Community School gymnasium at 7:45 p.m. It’s $100 per team and with four on the floor, plus a substitute or two, that comes out to under $20 per player.
“It’s a screaming deal,” says Canale.
Rest assured there will be no bottles tossed or any beheadings. While the action is intense, it’s far from over-the-top competitive and is open to men and women, to high-school age kids and older and to players of all abilities.
“The talent level is really across the board,” says Canale, “mostly experienced players but with some players new to the game thrown in the mix.”
The league officially opens on Monday, January 13 and will continue until the first week of March. Every Monday night from 7:45 to 9:45 p.m. teams will get two games per night and each team must have at least one woman on the roster.
You do not need a team to sign up. Show up as an individual or with a friend and a team will be formed on the spot. On a side note, that’s how the Sex Panthers? came to be and they took it all the way to the title.
For more information check out www.crestedbutterec.com.