MISL Champion Milwaukee Wave plans
promotions, unique All-Star game

UNLIKE MOST professional sports teams, the Milwaukee Wave’s post-game ceremony involves team members circling the arena to thank fans for their support. It happens whether the team wins or loses, but the Wave doesn’t lose very often.

This season, the defending champion of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) won its first seven games—no surprise to fans or opponents who know that the Wave is consistently at or near the top of the indoor soccer standings.

What the NFL is to football and the NBA is to basketball, the fast-paced MISL is to indoor soccer. And the Wave is consistently among its leaders during the season and in postseason championship play.

Head coach Keith Tozer, named “Coach of the Year” five times, guided the Wave to titles in 1997-98, 1999-2000 and 2000-01 and again last season. In seven other seasons, Tozer’s squad made it to the championship series.

As the MISL season nears its midpoint, fans have a lot in store for them:

• Four home games: Visiting the US Cellular Arena, 500 W. Kilbourn Ave., will be the Baltimore Blast at 7:05 p.m. Jan. 6; the St. Louis Steamers at 7:05 p.m. Jan. 13; the always-tough Philadelphia KiXX at 6:05 p.m. Jan. 20 and the Baltimore Blast again at 1 p.m. Jan. 29.
  
  
• Special promotions include team-picture night (first 5,000 fans), Jan 20, courtesy of Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin; the annual mascot game, March 5; WE Energies Greg Howes bobblehead figurine for the first 2,500 fans, March 12; the St. Patrick’s Day green jersey auction to benefit Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, March 17 and Keith Tozer bobblehead night (first 4,500 fans) on March 19.

Fans at the March 19 contest also will have a chance to meet Ethan Zohn, winner of the Survivor Africa television series and 10 to 12 other participants in the Survivor series. A former professional soccer player, Zohn is a co-founder of Grassroot Soccer, an African youth soccer program that involves HIV/AIDS prevention education.

All-Star game a first

When the MISL All-Star Game is held here Feb. 11, Wave coach Tozer will again be on the sidelines as coach for the ninth time, but he will not be facing another team of MISL all-stars.

For the first time in league history, the MISL all-stars will face a team from Futbol Rapido A.C., the Mexican equivalent of the MISL. The warmer year-round climate of Mexico allows Futbol Rapido to be played on more than 800 walled, outdoor fields throughout the country.

Mike Lafferty, chief executive of the Wave, notes that the team and the league are excited about the change in format from the traditional two teams of MISL all-stars. “We’re working with community leaders like Maria Monreal-Cameron of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to plan pre-game activities and to make the game a festive, themed event,” says Lafferty. “Special Hispanic entertainment is planned for halftime and we’ve added a Spanish-speaking announcer for the game.”

Lafferty expects the All-Star Game, presented by Time Warner Cable, to be sold out well in advance of game time at 7.05 p.m.

Tickets for regular-season Wave games are reasonably priced at $20, $16, $14 and $12 and may be purchased at the Wisconsin Center District Box Office between the Arena and the Milwaukee Theatre. Tickets also are available by calling 414-224-9283 or through TicketMaster outlets. For up-to-the minute information on the Wave, visit www.milwaukeewave.com.