VAIL VALLEY, Colorado— It's a whole new ball game in Colorado's Vail Valley come Jan. 3.

The Edwards Freedom of the Premier Arena Soccer League plays its first game in the friendly confines of the new Edwards Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. against the Golden Strikers.

With a win already under its belt Dec. 5 against the Highlands Ranch Heat, the Freedom is ready — really ready — to break in its new digs.

“I am very excited for our first home game in the new facility,” striker Nacen Gray said. “They did a great job with it. We've had a good time training and we have a lot of quality players. We're ready to go.”

The Freedom has a distinct local flavor to it with several players from the Pepi's men's summer soccer team, along with some former local high school players. The team has also attracted talent from other mountain towns as well as some players from the East Coast.

The local side will play home-and-home sets with teams from the Front Range including the Strikers, Heat, Northern Colorado Cutthroats, Fort Collins Fury and the Denver Boom in the Rocky Mountain Division.

New rules

Expect speed and offense. Nobody's making predictions on how the Fury will stack up in the standings, but a 0-0 tie is definitely out of the question.

An outdoor soccer pitch is traditionally 80-yards wide and 120-yards-long. An indoor soccer field is essentially a hockey rink — 85-by-200 feet.

Teams play six per side, including the goalie, as opposed to 11 outdoors. That translates to 2-2-1 and 2-1-2 formations (fullbacks, midfielders and strikers). Instead of 45-minute halves there are 15-minute quarters.

Offsides doesn't exist in the indoor game, which is probably a good thing because very few Americans actually understand that rule. The pitch is surrounded by hockey-style boards and glass. That gives fans a good view of the action, but more importantly, it means no throw-ins.

If a player kicks the ball out of the field of play, the opposing squad takes possession of the ball at the spot where it was kicked — not where the ball went out.

All of this adds up to a lot of offense.

“We won our first game, 9-7,” said Mike Zaremba, WECMRD's soccer director and also a member of the Freedom. “We had an intrasquad scrimmage that was something like 15-10. We went to a minicamp in the preseason and there were like 12-14 goals per game.”

Building on a base

The concept of a semipro soccer team in Edwards seems a little strange at first, but then again, it's really not. Put this under the category of “Which came first? The chicken or the egg?”

Eagle County has always had an international population which has brought enthusiasm for soccer. If you were at e-town or your favorite local watering hole for the 2006 World Cup or 2008 Euro Championships, that's pretty evident. (By the way, the Freedom will be hosting a postgame party after the Jan. 3 game at e-town.)

With the 2010 World Cup approaching, local fans are already anticipating the England-United States match or the fact that the tournament opener is Mexico against host South Africa.

The county also has an exploding youth soccer scene with tykes of all ages playing the sport from Gypsum to Vail. There are also seven boys and girls varsity squads at the high school level.

There's been the Pepi's men's team in the summer for ages, a women's squad which has played under the banner of Blue Moose or Gallegos and countless adult rec leagues.

Away from the actual games the Freedom will play, the club is working with local soccer organizations to promote the sport.

“At least in our community, soccer is one of the biggest sports outside of skiing and snowboarding,” Zaremba said. “We have the Freedom Academy and other camps for players. We are getting everyone in here to play. We have two men's leagues which have 16 teams each, and most of our kids' club teams are full.”

To get tickets for the Jan. 3 game, call 970-766-5555.

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 or via cfreud@vaildaily.com.