Indiana Kick

American Indoor Soccer Association (1989-1990)

Background

The Indiana Kick were a One-Year Wonder in the Midwest-based American Indoor Soccer Association (AISA). The team formed out of the ashes of the Fort Wayne Flames (1986-1989), an AISA franchise that succumbed to financial problems following the 1988-89 season. A number of former Flames players joined the Kick, including goalkeeper Warren Lipka, who also took on head coaching duties for the Kick.

Dan O’Keefe, another holdover from the Flames days, led the AISA in goal scoring during the 1989-90 season with 108 scores in 40 matches. But the team was unsuccessful finishing last in its division with a 14-26 record.

Demise

Team owner Kent Phillips stopped supporting the Kick midway through the season in January 1990. The club folded at the end of the 1989-90 season. The AISA changed its name to the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) that summer.

In September 1990, six weeks before the opening kick of the 1990-91 season, the NPSL hastily added a team in Albany, New York. The reporting is a bit murky, but according to The Glens Falls Post-Stars (9/14/1990) the new owners were allowed to purchase the carcass of the Indiana Kick franchise. By this time the former Indiana players had already been allocated in a dispersal draft. So the practical outcome of the transation was that the New York club took on the Kick name and a similar version of the old Indiana club’s logo. Otherwise there were few real-life connections between the Indiana Kick of 1989-90 the New York Kick of 1990-91. The New York Kick folded after one season of play.

In Memoriam

Former Kick forward Carlos Salguero died of cancer on December 28, 2006.  He was 51.

Downloads

1989-90 AISA League Directory

Links

American Indoor Soccer Association Media Guides

American Indoor Soccer Association Programs

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