Wondering how preseason preparations are going for the Milwaukee Wave United?
Look no further than the Major Indoor Soccer League standings, where the Milwaukee Wave sit atop the Central Division with an 18-6 record.
Sixteen of the Wave’s 20 players also are under contract to play this summer for the Wave United.
"So how are we getting ready (for the summer)? We’re getting ready by playing indoors, and playing very well right now," said Art Kramer, the Wave United head coach who serves as an assistant for the Wave during the winter.
Kramer said one of the biggest tasks the organization has faced in its year of operating both teams has been to get the word out that they’re not separate entities.
"We’re all the same. We’re the same team, the same guys," he said. "That’s one of the barriers that we’re trying to bring down ... This is who we are. We’re the Milwaukee Wave and we play all year round. We play indoors during the winter, we play outdoors during the summer and we play with the same players, and we’re the only club in North America that does that."
And they do it well.
The Wave have reached the MISL finals each of the past three seasons, winning two titles. Wave United’s inaugural season last summer saw them edge Minnesota for the Central Division title with 54 points (18-10-0) and end up atop the A-League’s overall table (on a tiebreaker over Montreal).
"We’re very proud of the fact that we won the points title, and we’re also very proud of the fact that we played 28 games and didn’t play to one tie," said Kramer, whose team joined Cincinnati as the only two of the 29 A-League clubs without a draw last season. "How’s that for your fans?
"I definitely think it was a direct result of the type of players that we had. They don’t play to ties indoors, and we were a team that instead of sitting back, we were going to try to get three points. ... To go 28 games with no ties was pretty remarkable."
Kramer works closely with Wave coach Keith Tozer, the organization’s vice president of soccer operations, to find players who can contribute to both teams.
"Keith is in the office right next to mine," Kramer said, "and I’d say we spend probably an hour or two each day in conversation about the first team, whether that be indoor or outdoor, and what direction we’re going."
It’s a process that keeps them busy because it comes on top of their responsibilities with the Wave, but it likely will pay dividends for Kramer come springtime.
The Wave could be playing in the MISL playoffs until the first week of May, and with the Wave United opening the A-League season May 14 at home against the expansion Edmonton Aviators, Kramer won’t have too much time to watch players outdoors and decide on an opening-day roster.
"That’s where having a lot of depth will be helpful," Kramer said.
What also will help is having a year of experience dealing with players making the transition coming outside after playing inside all winter. In addition to the physical differences in the games, Kramer learned last year how to get his players through the mental transition.
"After about 15 or 20 minutes, they were frustrated, impatient," he said. "Psychologically they were a mess because they weren’t putting the outdoor game in the perspective it needed to be put in, which is: It’s a 90-minute game, where one goal could win it for you. So I broke it down to 30-minute segments.
"The first 30, let’s try to play even. If we can get a goal, that’s great, but our goal for the first 30 minutes is to play even. The second 30 -- the last 15 of the first half and the first 15 of the second half -- let’s see if we can dictate the tempo of the play and start breaking through. The last 30 minutes, I said, ‘You guys are great soccer players. You have more talent, more depth, you’re going to win games in the last 30 minutes, but you’ve got to allow yourselves to get to that point.’ And it worked great."
So much so that Wave United won 10 of their final 12 games, and ended up as the highest-scoring team in the A-League with 61 goals (2.18 per game).
Many of the same faces are expected to be back on the field this summer -- including forward Greg Howes, who was fourth in the league in scoring with 34 points (11 goals, 12 assists) and forward Todd Dusosky, who tied for fifth with 29 points (11-7). Both players are enjoying great indoor seasons, with Howes leading the MISL in goals and points and Dusosky sixth in points.
Competition for spots on the 26-man roster figures to be fierce.
In addition to the 16 Wave players under contract to play for the Wave United, players such as former MLS All-Star Digital Takawira and local products Steve Lawrence, Chad Dombrowski, Joe Hammes and Nick Walls also are the mix to return.
And the team picked three players in the A-League draft: Midfielder David Wagenfuhr, a former Creighton player who also was taken by the Dallas Burn in the fourth round of the MLS SuperDraft; Aaron Paye, a forward out of Farleigh Dickinson; and Chad Riley, a midfielder from Notre Dame.
All in all, Kramer said he is considering about 60 players for the club, and "there’s going to be new faces, no doubt about it.
"I think we’re real close," he continued. "We’ve got a real good idea of what we need outdoors to put us over the hump this year. We realize we need to become a better team because the league’s going to be stronger with the loss of the some of the teams."
As for the A-League’s new look, which has Milwaukee in the seven-team Western Conference, count Kramer as a fan.
"It makes it exciting," said Kramer, whose team lost to Minnesota 2-1 on aggregate in overtime in the first round of the playoffs last season. "You’re looking at the other teams and you’re saying, ‘Where is the break in the schedule?’ There is none."
Just like for many of his players, there won’t be a break between seasons.
