MSL NOTEBOOK / JOHN GEIS : Sockers Miss Swiss Trip, Youth Camp

Not only will the Sockers miss out on an all-expenses-paid trip to Zurich, Switzerland, where the St. Louis Storm will represent the MSL in an indoor tournament, but the team will also miss out on revenue from its annual holiday youth camp.

Being defending champions, club management thought the Sockers would get the nod to play in Switzerland next month. They didn’t. The dates for the trip, however, conflicted with dates for the youth clinic, so the clinic was scrapped.

“It is unfortunate for the kids who would attend the camp,” said Randy Bernstein, team vice-president. “It’s unfortunate for the players, who would receive compensation; and it’s unfortunate for the team, which would also receive compensation.”

Originally the Sockers were the only team being considered for Zurich because their schedule was the only one with a window that would allow for a week-long absence, according to Commissioner Earl Foreman.

But, Foreman said, tournament dates were switched and suddenly St. Louis’ schedule also allowed for the trip.

The Storm were chosen because Foreman last year promised owner Milan Mandaric that his team would have first priority if an overseas opportunity arose. The promise was made as a compensatory gesture because Foreman would not allow the Storm to rearrange last year’s schedule for a trip to Belgium.

“Basically,” Bernstein said, citing the franchise’s eight championships in nine years, “we’re the showcase team in the MSL. If anyone would be playing foreign teams, it should be us.”

That opportunity may still arise. The Dallas Sidekicks have already been invited to an MSL-style tournament in Japan tentatively scheduled for May or June, and Foreman said the Japanese organizers now are asking that two teams be sent, though he wouldn’t say which other team might go.

The league earlier this week not only got around to naming the site for this season’s All-Star game, but also announced that the annual College Showcase game and the draft will be conducted during the same week.

Kansas City will play host Feb. 10-Feb. 14. The Showcase game, which features top collegiate soccer seniors, will be Tuesday, Feb. 12; the All-Star game will be Wednesday night and the draft Thursday morning.

The Showcase game and the draft have always been during the summer, but that allowed teams from the American Soccer League and the Western Soccer League to draft top collegians before the MSL got its chance. MSL teams would then have to work out loan agreements with those leagues in order to sign draft picks.

Sockers Coach Ron Newman said he has been proposing an earlier draft for two years.

“It was stupid to have it when we did,” Newman said. “These players are free after Christmas and some of them could come out and train with us (after being drafted) and practice with us and still do their schooling. Before we were being beaten to the punch by the (other leagues). Now we can loan players to them.”

At 11-5, the Tacoma Stars have the best record in the league, but they don’t seem to be enjoying it.

Forward Kia, second on the team in goals (nine), assists (nine) and points (18), was upset last week about a lack of playing time and asked Coach Keith Weller for a trade.

On. Dec. 7, when Kia led the team in both goals and assists, he played only a quarter in St. Louis, then didn’t play at all Sunday in Baltimore.

“I was the leading scorer and the highest paid player on the team,” Kia said after the Baltimore game. “Even the referees were asking, ‘Why aren’t you playing?’ ”

Weller said Kia was benched because his playing wasn’t sharp.

That didn’t satisfy Kia, however.

“I asked him why other guys who are struggling hadn’t sat down,” Kia related. “I like it (in Tacoma). I don’t want to go anywhere else, but I like consistency. The next time a guy is having a nightmare, I expect him to sit down right away.”

Defender Neil Megson is also upset with Weller. Megson recently returned from a couple injuries. He made the last trip, but did not play.

“It’s not that I’m surprised that I haven’t played,” Megson said. “It’s just, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’

“I guess we still have a lot of road trips,” he continued as he picked up a trainer’s uniform bag during the team’s trip through an airport. “And we have a lot of bags. Someone has to carry them.”

Despite early returns which seem to indicate league-wide attendance is dwindling, Commissioner Foreman remains enthusiastic about this season’s receipts.

“I take exception to that word ‘dwindling,’ ” he said. “We’re a little off, but we’re in the first third of our season, and the first third of the season in any sport--indoor soccer, basketball or hockey--has been notoriously weak.”

After 63 games, league-wide average attendance is 6,631. That’s 1,134 less than last year’s final average of 7,765.

Kansas City leads the league in average attendance at 7,623, and the Sockers are second at 7,494. The other six teams in order are: St. Louis, 6,960; Dallas, 6,722; Wichita, 6,420; Baltimore, 6,348; Tacoma, 5,586; and Cleveland, 5,379.