Twisters Switch Indoor Leagues

Leave AISL, Join National Indoor League

November 5, 2008

CLEVELAND, OH. � The Massachusetts Twisters are leaving the American Indoor Soccer League to join the National Indoor Soccer League for the 2008-09 season that starts Nov. 15.

Paul Lapointe, owner and founder of the Massachusetts Twisters and the AISL made the announcement Tuesday.

"The last 48 hours have been an incredible whirlwind of emotions for me and my family," said Lapointe. "Now that the agreement has been signed, I can look back on the past eleven seasons and see that the vision that I had when I started the Twisters and the American Indoor Soccer League has finally come to fruition.

�We were just waiting to be accepted by the most respected group the sport has to offer. We had many options, and we would have not continued this season with anyone except this group of owners who understand teamwork outside the lines. This is right for the AISL and the Massachusetts Twisters. What a great opportunity for the media and the soccer fans in Massachusetts to support a team on the largest stage of indoor soccer. "

The Twisters, champions of the AISL in 2007, will play their home games at the 5,500 seat Eastern States Coliseum, which has been the home of the team for its previous six seasons in the American Indoor Soccer League.

Bob Alves, who has served as the Twisters' game operations manager the past two seasons, has been promoted to director of operations for the team, and will assume his role immediately.

The Twisters are the second AISL club to join the first-year NISL. In September, the 2008 league champion Rockford Rampage announced that they would be joining the NISL, which was born out of the May demise of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

"The next two weeks are going to probably be sleepless ones for me and my family,� said Lapointe. �But I can guarantee that we will have a great product for the fans of Massachusetts come opening night."

The NISL features the Baltimore Blast, the 2008 MISL champion, the Philadelphia Kixx, la Raza de Monterrey (Mexico), as well as the Rampage and Twisters. Some of the top indoor players in the world play in the NISL, including stars such as Denison Cabral (Baltimore), Jamar Beasley (Rockford), Genoni Martinez (Monterrey), and Pete Pappas (Philadelphia).

All five members of the NISL have been champions of the respective leagues they have previously played in. The Baltimore Blast are five time indoor champions, having most recently won the 2008 MISL title, after defeating Monterrey in a nationally televised game last April.

The Twisters will open their inaugural NISL campaign Nov. 15 against the Philadelphia Kixx.

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