Fledgling Team's Goal Is to Gain Area Appeal : Soccer: L.A. United, a member of the seven-team Continental Indoor Soccer League, has seven players from the South Bay.

By KIRBY LEE

June 20, 1993 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Forum Sports Vice President Tim Harris knows about past failures of professional soccer teams in the Los Angeles area. Harris, however, is confident the Forum Sports-formed L.A. United can avoid similar pitfalls.

L.A. United, one of seven teams in the newly created Continental Indoor Soccer League, made its debut Thursday night with a 6-4 loss to the Arizona Sandsharks at the America West Arena in Phoenix.

The team, which features the husband-and-wife tandem of Jim and Carin Jennings-Gabarra, will play the Portland Pride in its home opener at the Forum tonight at 7:30.

Nine other professional soccer teams were started in the L.A. area in the past 20 years, but folded.

The franchises included North American Soccer League and American Soccer League teams L.A. Wolves, the L.A. Toros, the Aztecs, Skyhawks, California Surf, California Sunshine; Western Soccer Alliance teams the L.A. Heat and Hollywood Kickers and Major Indoor Soccer League L.A. Lazers.

“What we’re trying to do is take all the complaints and objections of what the other past professional teams didn’t have and counter it,” said Harris, 31, a 1979 South Torrance High graduate and a former goalkeeper for UCLA, the U.S. National team and the Lazers.

“They didn’t have Americans or local talent. We want to develop a decent fan base. We’re not looking necessarily for someone who can recite the rules of indoor soccer, but people who want to support L.A. United.”

Jennings-Gabarra, 28, one of seven L.A. United players from the South Bay, earned her share of notoriety during a record-setting career at Palos Verdes High, where she set a California Interscholastic Federation record with 226 goals from 1980-83.

Jennings-Gabarra, 28, who is practicing with the U.S. National team in Ohio, is expected to report to the team next week. She is the only woman competing in the CISL.

Glenn Ervine (North Torrance), 32, a member of the U.S. Olympic team from 1982-84, Mark Evans (West Torrance), 31, and Steven Sharp (Rolling Hills), 30, are among three El Camino College players named to the team.

“With L.A. United, they’re trying to give local players a chance,” said Ervine, who also played with the Heat and the Aztecs. “It was all foreigners 10 years ago and you didn’t stand a chance. Now it’s the other way around. They’re trying to make it family oriented where there is local boys to identify with.”

Ervine will be reunited with former Heat teammate Dave Vanoule, 30, an Aviation graduate who was a member of UCLA’s 1985 NCAA championship team and played on the U.S. national team from 1986-90. Joe Flannigan, 25, who is the career scoring leader at Cal State Dominguez Hills, has also been selected to the 13-player L.A. United roster.

The CISL features five field players and a goalkeeper on a side. The game is played on artificial turf and the dimensions of the field are similar to an ice hockey rink surrounded by “dasher boards.”

The league was developed by former Lazer executive vice president Ron Weinstein and Laker owner Jerry Buss in the spring of 1989 after the Lazers withdrew from the MISL. Weinstein and Buss sought NBA and NHL ownership groups to form its charter teams.

Arizona (Suns), Dallas Sidekicks (Mavericks), L.A. United (Lakers), Portland (Trail Blazers) and Sacramento Knights (Kings) are backed by NBA ownership groups. The San Diego Sockers, the 10-time champion of the MISL, and Monterrey are the other charter teams.

The league will expand in 1994 to include teams from Charlotte, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh and plans are underway to start four others.

Unlike the MISL, the CISL has opted to play during the summer to avoid competition with basketball and hockey--a factor which led to the demise of the Lazers.

The teams will play a 28-game regular-season schedule with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs and finals in September. The L.A. United schedule runs simultaneously to the American Pro Soccer League, which is represented locally by the Montebello-based L.A. Salsa, which plays its home games at Cal State Fullerton.

“L.A. is a tough market,” Ervine said. “When you win a lot you start drawing crowds. I’ve seen it happen in other parts of the country.”

More than 6,500 showed up for L.A. United’s season opener in Phoenix Thursday night. But advance ticket sales for tonight’s game at the Forum have been anything but brisk, according to Harris. Ticket prices for L.A. United home games range from $5 to $12.50.

“Any time you start a new business, you don’t hit a home run you’re first year,” Harris said. “You can let your eyes get bigger than your stomach. We don’t have much money for salaries. Invariably, you start small and try to grow. You don’t expect to draw 16,505 out the door.”

Salsa, whose player salaries range from $30,000 to $60,000, has averaged about 3,750 for its home games, but the team figures to lose at least $100,000 in its inaugural season.

The NASL relied on big-name foreign players to attract fans. The New York Cosmos and Pele routinely drew crowds of 70,000 in the mid-1970s. The league eventually collapsed by the weight of the high salary its stars demanded.

Harris said he is working under a salary cap of $150,000 for the players and Coach Gus Mokalis, a former Lazer and San Diego Socker player. Six of the 13 players on each team will earn $3,000 for the season and the remainder will earn $2,000.