A Conversation with SharX Head Coach Jon Hall

The currently winless Norfolk SharX (0-6) recently released the following conversation with their Head Coach, Jon Hall regarding the rough start to the MISL season.

Norfolk, Virginia - Norfolk SharX head coach Jon Hall is not accustomed to losing. The 2007 Premier Development League Coach of the Year has always had success outdoors on the pitch. Historically, his teams have won far more than they have lost. But this season with the Norfolk SharX, he is starting from scratch – building a new franchise in the Major Indoor Soccer League – from the ground up. And it’s an entirely different kind of soccer. “I have enjoyed the whole experience,” he said. “Make no mistake, though. I don’t like losing. The only things I’d change about the season so far are the results.” The SharX are winless in their first six games.

“We are building a new franchise,” he said. “The biggest thing I have learned is the huge difference between the indoor and outdoor games. We are learning systems, player roles, set pieces, and how to blend it all to succeed on the field. We have learned so much in the past month. Even with the games that we have lost, I think we have made great strides in the past seven weeks. Winning will come.” 

There are only seven professional indoor soccer teams in the country. And only four of the teams in the Major Indoor Soccer League have a history – Baltimore, Milwaukee, Missouri and Wichita. In addition to Norfolk, there are two other new expansion teams, Syracuse and Rochester, both of whom have been able to draw on local players with professional indoor experience. For the Sharx, there are few local players with professional indoor experience from which to draw. 

“We have never had high level indoor soccer here,” Hall continued. “Mainstream adult leagues have only been around here for about a year. In Milwaukee, for example, due to the winters, they have had a plethora of indoor leagues for many years, at all levels. There is not the same indoor foundation here, which is something we would like to play a big part in changing. We have come into the top league in the country a bit fresh-faced – sometimes like a deer caught in the headlights. We are learning and our players are understanding their roles. We are creating something from nothing.”

Hall has developed very good working relationships with the other coaches in the league – all of whom want the franchise to succeed – except on the field. “There is a difference between where those teams are and where the SharX are,” he said. “Playing wise, we’ve only been doing this for around 50 days, some of the other teams have been around for thirty years. The coaches of the other teams have been terrifically supportive and comment that we are not that far away. The other teams certainly don’t take us lightly. They do respect us.” 

Hall concluded by saying, “We have good guys who come in every day and work hard and train hard. We have a great organization from upper management to our game day interns, who are all working hard to make our club successful. The only thing we don’t have here is a win . . . yet.” The SharX