By Ben Harrison
On a Saturday afternoon, inside the brightly lit Jenkins Arena of the RP Funding Center, cries of “man on” and the sound of a soccer ball whacking off of hockey boards reverberates. Certainly a practice session for the latest sports sensation to hit Central Florida; The Florida Tropics of the MASL (Major Arena Soccer League). Upon closer inspection, this observation does not hold true as the players that are sprinting up and down the vast arena floor are of vastly different ages and gender. A smattering of spectators cheer and catcall as the participants substitute in and out at frequent intervals, gasping for breath and reaching for a refreshing gulp of water.
It is the TAASL! (Tropics Adult Arena Soccer League)
The Brainchild of Tropics GM Andrew Ross and Commish/Captain/Player Ben McConnell the TAASL is in its fourth season, operating concurrently with the parent organization, The Florida Tropics.
McConnell comments:
“During the Tropics first season, they would have people put on “bubble suits” at halftime and play a short game of something that resembles soccer but was more like human pinball, so I went to Andrew and told him I would like to bring two teams of local adult players to play during a halftime. During our conversation I came to realize that on Tropics game days the soccer arena was set up all day, so we turned the conversation towards forming an actual league.
The first season was rather limited as we started late in the Tropics season and didn’t have a lot of time to get organized, however, we wanted to show the Tropics and the RP Funding Center administration that we could successfully organize and field a league and that is what we did. Games were short, only 30 minutes, with volunteer referees, but a schedule was completed and a champion was crowned. The next season we went to 50 minute games with a paid referee and a championship trophy and shirts awarded to the top team.”
The current season is composed of six teams playing six games, each team plays all other team once with the sixth game being a pairing of Teams #1 and #2 (for the championship) teams #3 and #4 and teams # 5 and #6. The league is modeled after the MASL with five field players and a goalkeeper, however, it is a co-ed league with one female player being present on the field for each team. Rules are kept very basic and there is no slide tackling allowed. There are no age restrictions, with players of all ages participating. Teams are mostly sponsored with several area businesses already active in promoting adult soccer stepping up to help with league fees. In addition there is a club team composed of international students from Florida Polytechnic University which represents the first athletic endeavor in the school’s history! “The response has been nothing but positive” McConnell notes, “we are giving local players an experience totally new to Polk County; the nearest true indoor facility is in either Tampa or Orlando so it is really unique to be able to drive downtown and play right here in Lakeland. The arena pitch is professional dimensions (200 feet long x 85 feet wide) which adds to the experience since every players fitness is taxed to the limit-it is a monster to play on! We hope to continue to work and expand with the Tropics organization, the footprint is in place for year round leagues when and if an independent indoor facility is built in Polk County, there has been much discussion about this; it is an enormous undertaking in investment that will hopefully come to be realized as such an investment will pay back in the local soccer community from youth right up to the pros. Meanwhile we hope to expand the TAASL at the arena next season with more teams and dates-right now we are tied to the Tropics schedule so we have to wait until that is issued each season to see what dates we can work with.
Please visit our Facebook group page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/TAASL2019 to see the latest updates on the TAASL!