CMISL Announces Interleague play for the 2008-2009 Schedule
October 8, 2008 - Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL) News Release
Today the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League (CMISL) announced that they have formed a partnership with the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL-Pro) to participate in interleague play. The Canadian League will be a part of the PASL- Pro Championships. The CMISL will continue to be a separate organization, but will be playing in the PASL-Pro's family of leagues. PASL-pro consists of eight US teams with four western conference teams located in Denver, Colorado; Ft Collins, Colorado; Stockton, California and Wenatchee, Washington. The eastern conference consists of Cincinnati, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Detroit Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri.
CMISL President, Mel Kowalchuk, stated "PASL Commissioner, Kevin Milliken and I have been having discussions since last year and the more we talked the more we realized that we were on the same page regarding our thoughts for the future of the indoor game." Kowalchuk went on to say "we actually joined forces with the PASL a few months ago but we were looking at several issues before we could make the announcement official. One of those issues was expansion of the CMISL. We were close to taking in as many as four eastern teams and in fact had a verbal agreement with them but we were unable to finalise all the details in time for the upcoming season. We will continue to work with potential franchises in the East and are very hopeful of expansion by at least two teams for next season.
The CMISL, PASL-Pro, and Liga Mexicana have formed an indoor soccer alliance which will result in a North American Indoor Soccer Championship. The North American Cup will be played in Stockton, California on March 14-15, 2009, to crown the overall North American Champion.
The CMISL further announced that Winnipeg has elected not to participate in the CMISL this season. Kowalchuk said "It is a disappointment for the rest of us in the CMISL but the decision was reached between the league and owner Bill Stewart a couple of weeks ago. Bill has been seeking local owners for the Winnipeg Alliance and, although a group stepped forward, it was just too late for them to participate this season." Kowalchuk went on to further state that "We look forward to having Winnipeg back in the league next year."
The CMISL will play an unbalanced schedule for 2008-2009 that will involve games between Edmonton, Calgary, and Saskatoon, as well as interleague games against teams from the PASL. The CMISL season will consist of 12 games for each team with Calgary playing an extra four games due to the fact they will be fulfilling Winnipeg's commitment to play in the PASL. Each CMISL team will play two home and two away games against PASL teams, with Calgary playing the two extra home games and the two extra away games. Because of Calgary's extra games a new scoring system will be incorporated regarding team standings. The normal two points will be awarded for each game won except in Calgary's case their games against PASL teams will be worth one point.
• Discuss this story on the Professional Arena Soccer League message board...
Professional Arena Soccer League Stories from October 8, 2008
- CMISL Announces Interleague play for the 2008-2009 Schedule - PASL
- St. Louis to Host Fourth USNAST Combine - St. Louis Illusion
- Colorado Lightning Connects with Longmont United Soccer Association - Colorado Lightning
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
