National Professional Soccer League (1991-2003)
Major Indoor Soccer League (2001-2003)
Tombstone
Born: July 28, 1991 – NPSL expansion franchise1NO BYLINE. “Impact moves to Harrisburg”. The Daily News (Lebanon, PA). July 29, 1991
Folded: July 9, 2003
First Game: November 1, 1991 (L 16-12 @ Canton Invaders)
Last Game: March 23, 2003 (W 24-20 vs. Kansas City Comets)
NPSL Championships: None
MISL Championships: None
Arena
State Farm Show Arena (7,203)22000-01 Harrisburg Heat Media Guide
Opened: 1931
Marketing
Team Colors: Purple, Orange, Black & White32000-01 Harrisburg Heat Media Guide
Mascot: Scorch (the Dragon)
Cheerleaders: The Hot Shots
Ownership
Owners:
- 1991-1995: Dr. Rex Herbert et al.
- 1995-2003: Rod Rumberger, Rex Herbert & Rob Bleecher
Attendance
Background
The Harrisburg Heat were a long-running indoor soccer franchise in central Pennsylvania. Technically an expansion franchise in the National Professional Soccer League in the fall of 1991, the club was in some ways a successor to the region’s previous NPSL entry, the Hershey Impact (1988-1991). The Impact declared bankruptcy and folded three weeks before Heat were admitted to the NPSL in July 1991. Heat founder Dr. Rex Herbert was a team doctor for the Impact and put together a new investor group to keep pro indoor soccer going in the area. While the Impact played at Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, the Heat moved into the State Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg.
1990’s Heyday
After a slow start at the box office in their inaugural season, the Heat became a popular draw in Harrisburg during the mid-to-late 1990’s, usually averaging 5,000 – 6,000 fans per game each season.
The Heat’s finest season came in 1994-95. The team advanced to the NPSL Championship Series, where they were swept in four games by the St. Louis Ambush.
Decline & Demise
By the early 2000’s though, the entire sport of indoor soccer was in a state of decline. From 15 member franchises in 1996-97, the NPSL had only six viable clubs by the summer of 2001. The league re-branded itself as the Major Indoor Soccer League that summer.
The Heat played to declining crowds for two further seasons in the MISL, folding in the summer of 2003.
In 2012 the Harrisburg Heat brand name was re-booted for a new team in the obscure, low-budget Professional Arena Soccer League. The “new” Heat play in a smaller building at the Farm Show Arena and former Heat star Richard Chinapoo signed on as Head Coach.
Harrisburg Heat Shop
In Memoriam
Former Heat defender Todd Smith died of leukemia on December 31, 2003 at age 38. Smith was General Manager of Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution when he was diagnosed in March 2002. Soccer America obituary.
Links
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One Response
You forgot to mention the time the Heat offered Jose Canseco a contract after he infamously had a fly ball bounce off his head and over the fence for a home run.
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/28/sports/sports-people-soccer-unintended-header-earns-canseco-an-offer.html