Hidalgo La Fiera (also known as "La Fiera FC") was an American professional indoor soccer team based in Hidalgo, Texas. They played in the Southern Division of the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...

(MASL). The team was founded in 2012 as the Rio Grande Valley Flash when the Monterrey Flash left the Liga Mexicana de Futbol Rápido Profesional to move to Texas and the

Professional Arena Soccer League A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

. The PASL was rebranded as the MASL in May 2014. The team fell into financial disarray and, unable to reorganize, resigned their membership in the MASL effective December 23, 2014.

History

Attorney Gerardo Guerra Lozano founded the Monterrey Flash, and joined the Liga Mexicana de Futbol Rápido Profesional (LMFRPro) in 2011. They won the league championship in that first season. They also finished second in the 2012 FIFRA Club Championship, losing to the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...

5-3 in the championship. Lozano then renamed his team, the Rio Grande Valley Flash and moved to Texas. The Flash was admitted to the PASL on September 27, 2012. The team's initial logo was identical, except for the city name, to the one used by the Monterrey Flash. The team revealed a new, sleeker logo at a press conference on January 9, 2013, at

Ford Arena The Ford Arena is a 9,737-seat multi-purpose arena in Beaumont, Texas, United States, USA. The arena has 34,000 sq ft of exhibit space available for conventions and exhibitions. It also includes 7 production offices, 3 dressing rooms, a 2,448 sq ...

. The Flash began their inaugural PASL season unevenly, losing 4 of their first 8 games, including 3 to the Dallas Sidekicks. In the latter half of the regular season, head coach Mariano Bollella's team won 8 straight games and qualified for the post-season. The Flash defeated the Sidekicks in consecutive games to win the Central Division Finals 2–0 and advance to the Ron Newman Cup Semi-Finals in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. They lost that match to the

Detroit Waza The Waza FC (also known as Detroit Waza) is an American professional arena soccer team based in Metro Detroit competing as a charter member of the Major League Indoor Soccer (MLIS). The team's nickname, "Waza", is both a Japanese word that mean ...

, ending their playoff run. On July 2, 2013, the team announced that Victor Fernandez had assumed ownership and would take on the role of team president. Seeking to give the team an identity separate from the Monterrey club, the team announced that would operate with a new name, "La Fiera FC", colors (black, white, and gold), and logo (a stylized paw print in team colors with "La Fiera FC" and a lion head ingrained) for the 2013–2014 season. "La Fiera" translates from Spanish to English as "The Beast". After a league mandate, the team became known officially as Hidalgo La Fiera to reflect their home city. With a new owner and a new name, the team returned to State Farm Arena as one of three Texas teams in the PASL. The team held its first local tryouts on July 8–9, 2013. In late July, the team announced Joaquín García Fernández as its new president. With the expansion of the league and the re-branding to the

, La Fiera moved to the new Southern Division for this season. All of the team's games were played or scheduled against in-division rivals in Texas and Mexico. On November 19, after two regular season games, the team announced that interim head coach Angel Hernandez had replaced Mariano Bollella. On November 28, Angel Hernandez and Joel Perez left the team and Julio Garcia was announced as the team's new head coach. A last-ditch money-saving effort involved rescheduling 3 late-December home games for the team's practice facility, Golazo Soccer in

Pharr, Texas Pharr is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 70,400, and in 2019, the estimated population was 79,112. Pharr is connected by bridge to the Mexican city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Pharr i ...

. Before the first such game, the visiting Dallas Sidekicks filed a protest with the league about the inadequate playing facilities, including too-small goals. The league vacated the apparent 4–3 La Fiera win on December 23 and accepted the team's resignation from the league, ending both La Fiera's season and MASL franchise.

Year-by-year

Honors

*2013-14 PASL Central Division Champions

References

External links

La Fiera FC official websiteMajor Arena Soccer League official website
{{Texas sports 2012 establishments in Texas 2014 disestablishments in Texas Association football clubs established in 2012 Association football clubs disestablished in 2014 Indoor soccer clubs in the United States Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States Defunct Major Arena Soccer League teams Professional Arena Soccer League teams Sports in the Rio Grande Valley Soccer clubs in Texas