MLIS Expands Beyond the Great Lakes with Houston Bolt

Major League Indoor Soccer announced today that the Houston Bolt have been awarded a membership for the 2022-23 season. The Bolt are MLIS's seventh announced team, and first to be located outside of the Great Lakes region.

"It has always been a goal to take this team to another level and MLIS has afforded us that opportunity," said Bolt GM Brian Cushing. "When I got involved with the Houston Bolt, I told them I will only be involved if we run things as professionally as possible, and today's announcement validates the job we've done so far."

The Houston Bolt have competed the last three seasons in the Premier Arena Soccer League, a national amateur indoor soccer league. "We will still have a PASL team," said Cushing, who stepped down as coach in August to focus on running the front office. "The two teams will train together to help keep continuity in our system of play. We anticipate players being able to move up from our PASL to the MLIS team."

The Bolt, owned by Enrique "Kike" Gonzalez, will play their six home games at Maya Indoor Soccer, formerly known as Northwest Indoor Soccer.

This also marks the city of Houston's first professional indoor soccer team since the Houston Hotshots last played in 2000.

"This is an exciting time for the Houston Bolt and the Houston soccer community," said Cushing, who enjoyed a six year professional indoor soccer career, mostly with the Wichita Wings. "I hope those who have followed us will continue to do so, and we hope to gain many new followers."

"We are excited to welcome the Bolt and look forward to watching them transition from an amateur team to a professional club," said MLIS Vice President of Operations Dominic Turcotte. "The Houston market represents a gateway to new opportunities for the league as we expand our footprint across the country."

Follow the Houston Bolt on Facebook and Instagram @HoustonBoltFC, and on Twitter @HoustonBolt_FC.