Saskatoon Accelerators were a professional soccer team based in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

that played in the

Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League The Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League or CMISL was a professional indoor soccer league that began full league play in January 2008. The league's president was Mel Kowalchuk. As the league has become affiliated with the Professional Arena Socce ...

. The team played

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor so ...

which is different from the official FIFA indoor game called

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is t ...

. Its home games were played at Henk Ruys Soccer Center in Saskatoon.

Club history

The Saskatoon Accelerators were a charter member of the

CMISL The Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League or CMISL was a professional indoor soccer league that began full league play in January 2008. The league's president was Mel Kowalchuk. As the league has become affiliated with the Professional Arena Socce ...

. They were officially announced as a team on January 23, 2007, by CMISL President and original franchise owner Mel Kowalchuk. Their colours were black and silver, with silver jerseys and black shorts and socks. The name was decided by Mel Kowalchuk to represent the scientific community in Saskatoon and its main tool the

synchrotron A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron, in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path. The magnetic field which bends the particle beam into its closed p ...

at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. They debuted on the field on March 23, 2007, playing a "Showcase Match" against the

Winnipeg Alliance FC Winnipeg Alliance FC were a professional indoor soccer team that played in the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League (CMISL) from 2007 through 2011. The team suspended operations in January 2012. History 2007 season The Winnipeg Alliance was one of ...

. The "Showcase Match" consisted of two games. Each game consisted of two, ten-minute halves with an intermission between them. The Accelerators won both games by scores of 5 to 2 and 3 to 2, in front of 2,102 fans at

Credit Union Centre SaskTel Centre (formerly Credit Union Centre, and originally Saskatchewan Place; informally also known as ''Sask Place'') is an arena located in the Agriplace, Saskatoon, Agriplace Industrial Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. With 15,195 pe ...

. Due to the unbalanced scheduling of the " Showcase Season", the Accelerators had the best winning percentage of all CMISL clubs despite playing the fewest games. In fall 2007, Mel Kowalchuk sold 80% of the Accelerators club to Edmonton businessman Darren Hood. This was done so that Mel Kowalchuk could focus solely on running the CMISL, while the franchise would have a dedicated owner to run the day-to-day operations. The Saskatoon Accelerators opened the 2008 season on January 13, 2008, against the

Calgary United FC Calgary Sports and soccer team. is one of four (Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg) of Canada's newest professional soccer teams participating in the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League. Notable coaches * Troye Flannery (2010) * Dave Ran ...

at the

in Saskatoon. They played six home games and four road games this season, with all member clubs visiting Saskatoon. Previously to that, they played four pre-season games, with two of the games being played in St. Albert at the

Servus Centre Servus Credit Union Place (or Servus Place for short) is a $43-million multipurpose leisure centre that opened on September 30, 2006 in St. Albert, Alberta. At , Servus Place includes three NHL-sized arenas, an aquatic centre, fitness centre, indo ...

against the Edmonton Drillers and the other two being against the same Drillers at

Year-by-year

Current roster

External links

Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League's Official WebsiteSaskatoon Accelerators' Official Website
{{Defunct Saskatchewan sports teams Sport in Saskatoon Soccer clubs in Saskatchewan Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League teams Defunct Professional Arena Soccer League teams Defunct sports teams in Saskatchewan 2007 establishments in Saskatchewan Association football clubs established in 2007