1978 NASL Schlitz Indoor Tournament

The 1978 NASL Schlitz Indoor Soccer Tournament was a four-team indoor soccer tournament held in Houston, Texas, at The Summit in mid-March 1978.

Four teams, all from the North American Soccer League, participated in the two-day event: the Dallas Tornado, the Los Angeles Aztecs, the San Diego Sockers, and the host Houston Hurricane, who were an expansion team.

Much like ice hockey, matches were 60 minutes long and divided into three 20-minute periods with an intermission between each period. And just as in hockey, it allowed for free substitutions, and power plays on a playing surface measuring 200 feet by 85 feet. The goal dimensions were 4 feet by 16 feet. Standings were tabulated as follows; three points for a victory, plus a bonus point for each goal scored in a victory, no points or bonus points earned in a loss. Each session consisted of two games (i.e. a doubleheader). The opening round of matches (Tuesday evening's Session 1) would feature a pair of Texas vs California match-ups, with the Session 2 matches having the opposite Texas vs California pairings the following evening. The second game of Session 1, marked Houston’s first ever appearance before their home fans, having first faced NASL competition just 10 days earlier in Tulsa at the Skelly Indoor Invitational. That same match marked San Diego's first ever appearance as the Sockers, having played the 1977 season as the Las Vegas Quicksilvers and the 1976 season as the San Diego Jaws.

A total of 8,557 people attended the two sessions. Houston was the only squad to win both of its matches, but Dallas, with 21 points, was crowned champions because of the unusual point awarding system. The Hurricane were runners-up in the invitational with 20 points. San Diego finished in third position with 13 points, while winless Los Angeles was last with zero points. The tournament's MVPs was Mark Lindsay who had scored five goals in one match for Houston. San Diego forward Peter Anderson and Dallas’ Kai Haaskivi led the tournament with 6 goals apiece.

Session 1: Tuesday, March 14, 1978

Session 2: Wednesday, March 15, 1978

*G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential, PTS = Point System

*3 points for a win, 0 points for a loss, 1 bonus point for each goal scored in a victory

*Five players tied with 2 goals

• Most Valuable Player: Mark Lindsay (Houston)

There were many other NASL indoor matches played that winter, including the four-team 1978 NASL Skelly Indoor Invitational in which Houston also participated. Indeed, the Tampa Bay Rowdies scheduled nine games against various teams including Washington, Tulsa, Minnesota, and Rochester. At that time clubs were allowed to do their own scheduling because a fully sanctioned indoor season would not come to be in the NASL until November 1979. Although it never materialized, there was talk of the league awarding the "NASL Cup" for the best team among those that played indoor in early 1978. Ultimately only a handful of NASL squads played more than three times. Meanwhile competition arrived from another league later that same year, as on December 22, 1978 the Major Indoor Soccer League was launched.

• North American Soccer League