Indianapolis Twisters / Indiana Twisters

Continental Indoor Soccer League (1996-1997)

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Background

The Indianapolis Twisters (later “Indiana” Twisters) were a professional indoor soccer team that played at Market Square Arena for two summers in the mid-1990’s. The Twisters were part of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL), a circuit that initially attracted well-heeled NBA and NHL owners and swelled to a peak of 15 teams in 1995. But by the time that brothers David & Rodney Goins bought into the league for a $350,000 expansion fee in early 1996, the CISL was in contraction mode. The league had shrunk from 15 to 10 members that winter. The Twisters would end up being the last expansion franchise to ever join the CISL.

1996

Formed just four months prior to their June 1996 debut, the Twisters scrambled to get ready for their debut campaign. The team’s inaugural season was marked by instability. 30-year old co-founder Rodney Goins, a former Indiana University and Howard University soccer player, initially served as the team’s General Manager. Halfway through the season, he decided the wanted to play instead. He joined the team briefly (and would score a goal in league competition against the Washington Warthogs) and hired a new GM halfway through the season. Just a few weeks later CISL officials arrived in Indianapolis with the intention of taking over control of the team. The Goins brother would ultimately relinquish control of the team in September 1996 as the team finished out the 1996 season in last place with a 10-18 record.

Argentine forward Mariano Bollella paced the team offensively with 28 goals and 38 assists.

The Twisters’ 1996 announced attendance of 3,311 per game for 14 home dates ranked 10th among the CISL’s 11 teams.

1997

New father-and-son local owners Carl and Dan Cook updated the team’s branding for the 1997 season. They tweaked the team named from ‘Indianapolis’ to ‘Indiana’ and changed the Twisters’ color scheme from red-and-black to purple-and-green.

One constant between two seasons was head coach Jorge Espinoza. Espinoza oversaw a substantial turnaround on the carpet, as the last place Twisters of 1996 morphed into a solid 17-11 squad in 1997. The Twisters finished second in their division, but lost to the Houston Hotshots in the first round of the 1997 CISL playoffs.

Peruvian forward Mirko Castillo led the Twisters in scoring in 1997 (45 goals, 14 assists). 1996 scoring leader Mariano Bollella (24 goals, 30 assists) returned and finished second in scoring.

After the 1997 CISL season ended in October 1997, the league splintered into factions. Several teams defected to form the new Premier Soccer Alliance set to debut in the summer of 1997, forcing the CISL to go out of business two days before Christmas in 1997. The Cooks sold off the carcass of the Twisters to Kim Morris, owner of the Indiana Blast outdoor soccer team in early 1998. Morris made some noise about entering the Twisters into the winter season National Professional Soccer League for the 1998-99 season, but nothing ever came of it. The Twisters ended up getting permanently mothballed and never took the field again.

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The Twisters visit the Detroit Safari at the Palace of Auburn Hills. June 13, 1997

Links

Continental Indoor Soccer League Media Guides

Continental Indoor Soccer League Programs

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