Baltimore Blast

Baltimore Blast

Full name	Baltimore Blast
Nickname(s)	Blast
Founded	1992 (as Baltimore Spirit)
Stadium	Royal Farms Arena
Capacity	11,286
Chairman	Edwin F. Hale, Sr.[1]
Coach	Danny Kelly
League	Indoor Professional League
2015–16	1st, Eastern Division Playoffs: Won Newman Cup
Website	Club home page
Home colors Away colors

The Baltimore Blast are an American professional indoor soccer—now referred to as Arena Soccer—team based in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The team is a part of the Indoor Professional League.^[2]

The team, founded in 1992, plays its home games at Royal Farms Arena. Team colors are red and gold. Their current head coach is Danny Kelly.

History

NPSL/MISL II/MISL III Years

The Baltimore Blast were founded by North Carolina-based software executive Bill Stealey as the Baltimore Spirit at the end of July 1992 and joined the National Professional Soccer League. The team replaced the earlier Baltimore Blast, who folded along with the original Major Indoor Soccer League.^[3] When the team was purchased by Ed Hale, a former owner of the original team, the Spirit were renamed the Blast on July 10, 1998^[4] (Hale had the rights to the Blast name, hence the reason why the team decided to change its name) and joined the new MISL II in 2001. After the MISL II folded in 2008, the team announced it would be joining the new National Indoor Soccer League, which would later acquire the rights to, and became, the third version of the MISL.

Shift to MASL

One day after the 2013–2014 MISL Championship final, USL President Tim Holt announced a number of teams would not be returning to the MISL the following year.^[5] The franchise announced on April 2, 2014, that it would not return to the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) after its contract with the United Soccer Leagues (USL), owners of the circuit, expired following the 2013–14 season.^[6] It was officially announced the Blast would be one of six teams joining the Professional Arena Soccer League (later renamed the Major Arena Soccer League) in the 2014–2015 season.^[7][8] On February 18, 2016, the current owner of the Blast, Ed Hale, announced his intentions to leave the MASL and form a new league, the Indoor Professional League (IPL).^[9]

Players

2015–16 roster

• As of January 15, 2016^[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 0 GK William Vanzela 1 GK Jeremy Figler 4 FW Andrew Hoxie 6 DF Kaoru Forbess 7 MF Levi Houapeu 8 FW Lucas Roque 9 DF Pat Healey 11 FW Tony Donatelli 12 DF Adriano Dos Santos 13 DF Jereme Raley

No. Position Player 14 DF Onua Obasi 15 FW Jamie Darvill 17 MF Jeremy Ortiz 19 DF Uzi Tayou 22 MF Juan Pereira 23 MF Jonatas Melo 24 FW Sofiane Tergou 27 FW Jinho Kim 28 FW Vini Dantas 80 MF Geaton Caltabiano

Retired numbers

Player	Number
Stan Stamenkovic	#10

Hall of Fame

Position	Person	Inducted
Coach	Kenny Cooper	2004
FW	Stan Stamenkovic	2004
DF	Mike Stankovic	2004
DF	Bruce Savage	2005
N/A	Earl Foreman	2005
FW	Tim Wittman	2005
FW	Joey Fink	2006
FW	Dave MacWilliams	2006
FW	Heinz Wirtz	2007
FW	Domenic Mobilio	2008
GK	Keith Van Eron	2008
FW	Billy Ronson	2009
DF	Richard Chinapoo	2009
FW	Pat Ercoli	2010
GK	Cris Vaccaro	2010
DF	Doug Neely	2011
FW	Dan Counce	2012
DF	Rusty Troy	2012
FW	Tarik Walker	2013
MF	Denison Cabral	2014
DF	Lance Johnson	2015

Notable former players

• Denison Cabral
• Jason Dieter
• Jason Maricle
• Tony McPeak
• Tino Nuñez
• PJ Wakefield
• Rusty Troy
• Tarik Walker
• Barry Stitz

Year-by-year

Year	League	Reg. Season	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs	Avg. attendance
1992-93	NPSL II	27-13	309	256	1st American	Lost Quarterfinal	5,444
1993-94	NPSL II	26-14	322	293	1st American	Lost First Round	6,471
1994-95	NPSL II	23-17	317	307	3rd American	Lost First Round	5,733
1995-96	NPSL II	25-15	306	258	2nd American	Lost Division Semifinal	5,037
1996-97	NPSL II	20-20	260	258	2nd East	Lost Conference Semifinal	4,760
1997-98	NPSL II	12-28	250	300	3rd East	Failed to qualify	5,001
1998-99	NPSL II	19-21	271	290	3rd East	Failed to qualify	4,795
1999-00	NPSL II	26-18	339	275	1st East	Lost Conference Final	5,445
2000-01	NPSL II	22-18	300	260	3rd American	Lost Conference Final	5,376
2001-02	MISL II	18-26	265	274	4th MISL	Lost Semifinal	4,998
2002-03	MISL II	18-18	189	182	3rd Eastern	Won Championship	5,559
2003-04	MISL II	25-11	241	192	1st Eastern	Won Championship	6,330
2004-05	MISL II	15-24	205	238	7th MISL	Failed to qualify	5,752
2005-06	MISL II	17-13	184	168	2nd MISL	Won Championship	7,005
2006-07	MISL II	15-15	154	150	5th MISL	Failed to qualify	7,449
2007-08	MISL II	19-11	186	135	3rd MISL	Won Championship	7,230
2008-09	NISL	14-4	132	66	1st NISL	Won Championship	7,534
2009-10	MISL III	11-9	105	97	2nd MISL	Lost Semifinal	6,259
2010-11	MISL III	15-5	131	93	1st MISL	Lost Final	6,933
2011-12	MISL III	18-6	165	108	1st Eastern	Lost Final	5,961
2012-13	MISL III	21-5	181	108	1st MISL	Won Championship	5,544
2013-14	MISL III	17-3	147	46	1st MISL	Lost Final	6,123
2014-15	MASL	18-2	167	69	1st Eastern	Lost Final	6,201
2015-16	MASL	15-4	129	57	1st Eastern	Won Championship	6,102
Total		379-294 Win % = .563%				38-26 Win % = .594%	5,876

Head coaches

• Kenny Cooper Sr. (1992-1994)
• Dave MacWilliams (1994-1996)
• Mike Stankovic (1996-1998)
• Kevin Healey (1998-2002)
• Sean Bowers (2002)
• Bobby McAvan (2002-2003)
• Tim Wittman (2003-2006)
• Danny Kelly (2006–present)

Arenas

• Royal Farms Arena; Baltimore, Maryland (1992–present) (previously Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore Arena, 1st Mariner Arena)

References

1. Wells, Carrie (November 8, 2014). "'Hale Storm' reveals prominent former banker's CIA ties, two failed marriages". The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD: Tribune Publishing). Retrieved November 9, 2014.
2. https://www.facebook.com/FLTropics/videos/1783778395175144/
3. Ey, Craig S. (August 11, 1997). "Can soccer succeed in Baltimore?". Baltimore Business Journal (Baltimore, MD: Advance Publications). Retrieved December 9, 2014.
4. http://www.kicksfan.com/opponents/baltimore/new/index.htm
5. http://www.frequency.com/video/misl-statement/156411245
6. Graham, Glenn (April 3, 2014). "Seeking to become 'more relevant,' Blast breaks away from MISL". The Baltimore Sun.
7. Graham, Glenn (November 7, 2014). "A look at the Blast's new league, the MASL". The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD: Tribune Publishing). Retrieved November 9, 2014.
8. http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2014/04/14/ed-hale-moves-baltimore-blast-to-professional.html
9. Graham, Glenn (February 18, 2016). "Baltimore Blast owner Ed Hale plans to remove team from MASL, form new league". The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD: Tribune Publishing). Retrieved February 29, 2016.

External links

• Official site
• Baltimore Blast on FunWhileItLasted.net