final four. At Indiana, Shanker
switched from forward to midfield,
where he continues to play.
Prior to graduation from Indiana,
where he earned a bachelor's degree in
sports management, Shanker had only
a few brief tastes of indoor soccer
play. But his first professional soccer
experience came indoors, in Detroit,
with the now-defunct Detroit Neon.
He also played outdoors with the
Colorado Rapids before settling into
the indoor game with his hometown
St. Louis Ambush of the National
Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in
1996.
Shanker, who is single and now
lives in Novi, declined to discuss his
salary. But he has a three-year con-
tract, which is fairly long for NPSL
teams. A Detroit Rockers' spokesman
said NPSL players generally earn
$20,000-$40,000, with some stars
making more. The salary range in the
outdoor MLS (Major League Soccer)
is $40,000-$60,000.
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Playing Indoors
The indoor game is similar to hockey,
without the ice. Games are played in
arenas enclosed with hockey-style
boards and glass. Like hockey, each
team has a goalkeeper plus five field
players. There's a penalty box, and
teams make substitutions on the fly.
Unlike hockey, games consist of
four, 15-minute quarters. Teams earn
three points for goals scored from
beyond a 45-foot arc, two points for
all other goals except for shoot-out
goals, which earn a single point. The
game is faster-paced than outdoor soc-
cer, with balls frequently ricocheting
off the boards and glass. It's also much
higher-scoring than the outdoor ver-
sion.
The transition from outdoor to
indoor play "was a definite learning
experience," Shanker says. "The fit-
ness level is a lot different. It's a lot
more quick sprints and then you have
time to recover, whereas outdoor is a
lot more endurance. That, and you
have to adjust to the angles off the
walls and just the real quickness of the
game.
"If you have one bad touch in the
indoor game, the other team gets
the ball. In outdoor, the guy could
be five yards away from you. Indoor,
they're right on you at all rimes. So
that took a little adjustment period.
But after about a month you get
right into it, like.you were doing it
forever. Soccer's soccer. If you're
good at one you're going to be good
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