A. -

 A. -

 A. - Champions of the former MISL for the last 5 seasons have been:

 A. - Announcement of the National Indoor Soccer League was officially released on September 9th, 2008.

 A. - Indoor soccer has been around since before the creation of the NBA, NHL and NFL. The first recorded indoor soccer match took place in Newark, New Jersey vs. Toronto. The Toronto Globe reported on December 7, 1885 “…the score stood one to nothing in favor of the Canadians, who thus won one of the fastest, most exciting, as well as most novel games in the history of football."

 A. - A continually growing number of Americans have come to play, watch and enjoy traditional soccer, the “beautiful game”. Other sports fans have complained that they don’t care for the low-scoring and rigid aspects of the outdoor game, and have trouble identifying with the sport. Indoor soccer blends the finest athleticism of the outdoor game with a shortened field for more frequent scoring and modern conventions of entertainment. Standard goals are worth 2 points, and similar to basketball, there is a 3-point arc. Players who commit serious fouls are sent off to a penalty box while the opposing team goes on a power play, just as in hockey. Instead of two halves with a continuously moving clock, the game is played in four quarters with occasional stoppages of play allowing for the creation of an environment surrounded by music, cheerleaders and a night’s worth of entertainment.

 A. - Each team fields a striker, 2 midfielders, 2 defenders and a goalkeeper for a total of 6 players when at full strength.

 A. - Similar to hockey, a team may pull its goalkeeper to add a 6th attacker to the playing field. This is typically done late in the game, when the losing team is attempting to get one or more goals to stay in the game.

 A. - The game is played in 4 quarters, with a 3-minute break between the 1st & 2nd and 3rd & 4th quarters, and approximately 15 minutes of halftime entertainment. Total game time averages approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes.

 A. - Yes. When that happens, a restart occurs near where the ball left the playing field.

 A. - The season runs from the mid November to early the last week of March with playoffs stretching into April.

 A. -

 A. - A Sharks NISL game is a total experience of sports and entertainment. Each home match has a unique and specific theme to add to the excitement of the night.  The 2008-2009 Orlando Sharks theme nights are:

Beach Party
Friday Night Phever
Hoe Down in Downtown
Fiesta Caliente
Mardi Gras
Dean Wermer's Toga Party
Orlando Sharks Idols
British Invasion
Fan Appreciation 

 A. - A game lasts about 2 hours and 10 minutes. A 7:35 pm game would usually finish by 10:00pm.

 A. - Each NISL team will play an 18-game conference schedule (nine home games/nine away games) beginning in mid-November and concluding the first weekend in April. 

 A. -

Group and individual tickets are now on sale.  For group tickets please call an Orlando Sharks Representative at (407) 403-6300.  To purchase individual tickets click here.

 A. - NISL rosters must hold a minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 20.

 A. - NISL players are world class athletes. Many players come to the NISL after playing for their country's national team or from professional teams in Europe or South America. Others come from MLS, college or the USL First Division.

 A. - The Sharks have been active in the off season, scouting players from cities accross the country.   Additionally, the Sharks ran a series of open tryouts throughout Central Florida this past August.  The sophomore team will be comprised mostly of veteran players with indoor soccer experiance and also last years top performers.

 A. - Training camp begins in October. 

 A. -

Email the Sharks staff at dmoore@orlandosharks.com for more information on employment opportunities with the Sharks.

 A. -

 A. -

The 2008-2009 Dance Auditions have taken place and the team has been named.  For future notification on 2009-2010 tryouts please click "Dance Squad" and register your e-mail address.

For mascot and entertainment positions please write: Information@OrlandoSharks.com.

 A. - The United Soccer League, administrator of the Super Y League, W-League, Premier Development League (PDL), and First Division (formerly A-League), was first formed by Francisco Marcos in 1986 as the Southwest Indoor Soccer League. Starting with 5 teams (Albuquerque Outlaws, Amarillo Challengers, Garland Genesis, Lubbock Lazers and Oklahoma City Warriors), in 1989 the league branched out into the outdoor game, which eventually became its priority.

 A. - The first recorded indoor soccer match took place in 1885 between host, Newark, and Toronto. As legend goes, in 1983, New York Arrows' season ticket holder Jim Foster was watching an MISL game in Madison Square Garden when he wondered if it would be possible to adapt traditional American football to an arena setting. Four years later in 1987, Foster's dream became a reality when the Arena Football League began play.

 A. - According to the most recent study conducted by the Sports Marketing Group of America (SMGA), indoor soccer has the 10th most active group of participants in sports with 4.6 million participants, just behind tackle football and above lacrosse and ice hockey. "Indoor soccer has become a program that we have to recognize," SGMA Director of Communications, Mike May, told Goal Indoor Magazine. "There's enough play out there to make it an activity that we need to track. Indoor soccer has received increased media coverage, and the sport is only going to grow."

 A. - SMGA ranks Central Florida as the 2nd largest soccer participation market in America with 10.5% of Orlando residents participating in the game- a 46% margin over the national average. There are thousands of participants in over two dozen youth leagues and thousands more in adult leagues. Orlando raised its global soccer pedigree in 1994 when, under the leadership of Orlando businesswoman, Joanie Schirm, the City Beautiful landed the ultimate Beautiful Game prize, the World cup. During that magical summer, Mexico, Morocco, Ireland and the Netherlands (Holland) competed at the Citrus Bowl.

 A. - Sharks are believed to have existed on earth 100 million years before the dinosaurs, tracing their roots to the Silurian Period (also known as the Age of Fishes) 430 million years ago. They are considered to be the first vertebrates to have evolved with a complete jaw. Fossilized teeth, scales and skin impressions from that period of time show that sharks have changed very little over the course of time.

 A. - Today there are around 370 different species of shark which are divided into 30 families based on commonalities in appearance, lifestyle and diet. Most have torpedo-like bodies, but some are flat-shaped, some have elongated bodies and some have distinct attributes like the snout of the sawshark or unique face of the hammerhead.

 A. - Sharks live in oceans and seas all over the world; some even live in freshwater rivers and lakes. Depending on the species, they may stay in roughly the same hundred-mile radius all their life or migrate across oceans. Mako and blue sharks are the fastest swimmers, estimated at about 22 mph, and while fish don't sleep like humans (although they have active and inactive periods), only some sharks must keep moving to breathe. The average swimming speed of a shark is about a yard per second.

 A. - Sharks may produce young through laying eggs or giving live birth depending on the species. Average life spans for sharks appear difficult to guage, but most seem to live 25 years or less.

 A. - Of all 300+ shark species in the world, only about 30 have ever been reported to attack a human being. Of these, shark experts say about a dozen are particularly dangerous when encountered and 3 especially, namely the Great White, Tiger and Bull Shark, are mostly responsible for unprovoked attacks a year worldwide. An average of 21 of those attacks (29%) occur along the Florida coastline. During that same time period an average of 6 of those attacks each year result in fatalities (although despite the higher average of attacks in Florida, only 4% of the total fatalities occur here).

 A. - Sharks are not the greatest wildlife danger to humans in Florida or even throughout the United States. From 1948-2005, there have been 8 shark fatalities in Florida, compared with 16 alligator attacks resulting in death during the same period of time. In the United States, more people die annually from encounters with deer (130), dogs (18), snakes (15) and mountain lions (0.6), than from sharks (0.4).