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Comets Weekly

June 8, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Kansas City Comets News Release


On Thursday, June 3, the Chicago Indoor Soccer Club, LLC and the Major Indoor Soccer League announced the birth of the Chicago Storm professional indoor soccer team that will compete in the 2004-05 season. The organization also announced the appointment of Frank Klopas as the Storm's head coach and general manager.

Starting this fall, the Storm will play home games at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Pavilion, which is just minutes from downtown Chicago. This will mark the return of professional indoor soccer for the venue after an eight-year absence.

Along with Klopas, Viktor Jakovljevic (pronounced yuh-KOVE-luh-VICH), former Chicago Power midfielder, was named as the Storm's chairman and chief executive officer. Bob Welch was named president and chief operating officer, and Nicolino "Nick" Di Benedetto becomes the assistant general manager and director of communications. The MISL will provide an expansion draft for the Storm on Wednesday, June 23.

Chicago will be the only expansion team to join for the 2004-05 season. On February 27, the League announced an expansion team in Stockton, CA, set to start play in 2005-06. On May 4, the league announced plans for another expansion team in Newark, NJ, that will begin play in 2007-08.

Rules for the MISL Chicago Expansion Draft

The draft will begin at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23 and will be conducted via telephone conference. Thirteen days prior to the draft, representatives of the Chicago Storm will receive designation lists from each of the nine current MISL operating teams. Each team's list will contain the names of 11 players (includes a maximum of one goalkeeper) who are marked as "protected" and thus cannot be drafted. The players not designated as protected ("unprotected") are eligible for selection by the Storm. The Storm is allowed to draft as many as 16 players (two goalkeepers permitted) from MISL rosters.

Players that were selected in the 2004 Amateur Draft are excluded from the Chicago Expansion Draft. Current teams in the MISL may lose up to three players during the draft. Once a player is selected from an exisiting team, the team is allowed to return one unprotected player to its protected designation list.

Who's Who of the Chicago Storm

Frank Klopas: Head Coach and General Manager

As a child, Klopas moved to the United States from Greece and refined his soccer skills in his new hometown of Chicago. He became best friends with Viktor Jakovljevic at Mather High School on Chicago's northwest side, and the two helped lead their team to its first Chicago Public League Championship in 1983.

At the age of 17, "the Kid," began his indoor career with the Chicago Sting where he scored 110 points (62 goals, 48 assists) in four seasons. Klopas continued his professional career in Greece and later signed with Major League Soccer. He spent his first two seasons with the Kansas City Wizards and soon joined the expansion Chicago Fire in 1998. That season, Klopas helped guide the Fire to both Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Championship and the MLS Cup Championship. In four seasons in the MLS, Klopas recorded 12 goals and 16 assists in 89 games. Klopas also made 40 appearances as a member of the U.S. National Team from 1987-1998 and played with the U.S. Olympic Team in 1988. Klopas was recently inducted into the Chicago Fire's "Ring of Fire," which honors members of the Fire who have made the club a successful organization while displaying the qualitites of leadership, dedication and integrity.



Viktor Jakovljevic: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

A native of Svetozarevo, Yugoslavia, Jakovljevic moved to Chicago with his parents at the age of 14 and immediately started to pursue his soccer career. He played outside midfielder at Mather High School alongside teammate Frank Klopas. Upon graduation, Jakovljevic entered into the indoor soccer world with the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), where he continued his career with the Chicago Power (1988-89, 1990-91), Albany Capitals (summer 1989 in A-League), Hershey Impact (1989-90), Milwaukee Wave (1991-92) and Cleveland Crunch (1992-93). In a 10-year career, he played in 156 games and recorded 67 goals and 36 assists for 157 points. During his soccer career, Jakovljevic started a real estate development company called Deva Development and recently added Premiere One Properties to act as his real estate sales office.

For more information about the Chicago Storm click here

Upcoming Appearances!

Comets All-Stars Vlatko Andonovski and Miki Djerisilo will appear at the RE/MAX Galaxy Real Estate office in Overland Park on Saturday, June 12 for the "School's Out for the Summer Block Party." The fundraiser was established to encourage, educate and entertain local children and parents while raising money to benefit Children's Mercy Hospital through the Children's Miracle Network.

Children's Miracle Network is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping hospitalized kids in 170 hospitals throughout North America. One hundred percent of the locally generated donations will stay in the community at Children's Mercy Hospital.

The event will feature games (a moon walk and dunk tank), food (popcorn and cotton candy), prizes (from Oceans/Worlds of Fun, Blockbuster, AMC Movies) and much more! Stop by to get an autograph from Vlatko and stay for the fun!

The event starts at 10 a.m. and continues until 2 p.m. For a map of the area, please click here.

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Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from June 8, 2004


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.

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