Seventeen teams compete in the 1991 outdoor season, with the now-familiar litany of name changes. The Atlanta Steamers become the Quicksilver, New Mexico is now the Chiles and El Paso abandons a short-lived Spurs moniker for Patriots in honor of the Gulf War Scud-busting missiles, which protected many of the El Paso-based soldiers overseas, following an ownership change.

 

The Patriots, who are still under the ownership of Enrique Cervantes, have been one of USL’s top teams since joining the league in the 1990-91 indoor season, replacing the terminated Six Shooters franchise of 1989-90, and are now members of the A-League. The Patriots, the oldest existing team in the A-League, have compiled a 115-97-2 record, winning at least 10 games in nine of their 10 outdoor seasons.

 

The Chiles, however, prove to be most successful with their new image, winning the Southwest Division and reaching the 1991 SISL outdoor championship game before being derailed, 3-0, by the Richardson Rockets, who were led by league MVP David Pfeil.

 

The other star player in the 1991 outdoor season was Uwe Balzis, who finished at the top in league points, 31, and assists, 11.

 

Ever-increasing expansion forced the league to finally declare its large presence throughout much of the country with the moniker United States Interregional Soccer League prior to the 1991-92 season. And, oh, those ever-changing names! Both Atlanta teams change their names; the Quicksilver are now the Lightning and the Express transform to the Magic. The Rockets left the league but many of their players join the Texas Mid-Cities Flyers and the Genesis-Spurs franchise moves from Fort Worth to Dallas, but still as the Kickers.

 

Despite all of the changes, there is consistency. The Oklahoma City Warriors won their second indoor title, their first coming in the 1987-88 season, by defeating the Atlanta Magic, 7-2, in the Final of the first “Sizzlin’ Four” championship tournament.

 

Chris Cook of the Atlanta Magic was named the 1991-92 indoor Most Valuable Player after leading Atlanta to the championship match.