Soccer players get chance to go pro

Published 11:10 pm Friday, July 29, 2011

The newborn Norfolk Sharx will join the Major Indoor Soccer League, the top professional indoor soccer league in the country, in November and the Sharx are inviting soccer players around the region to see if they have what it takes at tryouts.

Hall

An average MISL game sees 60 shots on goal and 11 goals. The four 15-minute quarters include power plays, substitutions on the fly, long-distance shots worth two or three points and athletic combinations of power and finesse as everything has to happen fast in a 6-on-6 game surrounded by ice hockey-like boards.

The Sharx are holding the tryouts on Sept. 9-10 and Oct. 1-2 at Norfolk Scope, the club’s home field with a capacity of 8,725.

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Jon Hall, a longtime coaching and playing veteran around Hampton Roads, is the head coach of the expansion Sharx.

A native of Northern Ireland, Hall played at American University before having a professional career in the U.S. and England. Locally, Hall played for the Hampton Roads Hurricanes, Richmond Kickers and Virginia Beach Mariners. Across the pond, he played for Millwall.

Along with coaching from youth to pro levels in Hampton Roads since retiring from playing in 1998, Hall’s been the athletic director at Baylake Pines, a private school in Virginia Beach, since 1995.

Players must be 18 or older to try out and can sign up for one session, either Sept. 9-10 or Oct. 1-2. There’s an $85 non-refundable fee.

An online registration form is available at norfolksharx.com. For more information, call 419-3317 or e-mail info@norfolksharx.com.

For soccer fans not quite able or ready to try out for a professional franchise, the Sharx have season ticket and “VIP lifetime” ticket packages available. The team’s website will be holding a mascot naming contest as the season approaches.

Norfolk will be going up against clubs in Baltimore, Milwaukee, Rochester, N.Y., Syracuse, N.Y., Wichita, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo. in its inaugural season.