I believe it was 1994, I remember being around 18-19, it probably coincided with the World Cup and the resultant interest. The Normal Parks and Rec department decided to put on an adult coed recreational league. I don’t remember there being a previous one, at least not in my teens so this was a very promising development.
I joined the league as an individual since I didn’t play much after I turned 16 and didn’t know any current players. So I and a bunch of other individuals were put together to form a team. Although this was a brand new team, it was by no means a group of rookies. It consisted largely of ex-pats from Europe and guys who had probably spent time overseas. I’m being generous to estimate the average age as mid-30’s. Myself and a 25-year-old brought the average down, but these players had what they called, old age and treachery. After much deliberation (consisting of quizzical stares) we decided on a name, The Dinosaurs.
Games were played at the Raab Road Detention basin (now called Rosa Parks Commons). At the time, these fields were fields in name only. I once sprained my ankle walking to the field, there were that many holes and ruts in the ground. I have some vague memory of playing at R.T. Dunn field, but that could be another, later league.
The games were very competitive, with several teams fielded from either high school teams or travel teams looking to sharpen their skills against adults. Either way, I remember playing quite a few 15 and 16-year-olds who tried to run us into the ground. Here’s where the aforementioned old age and treachery. Since the guys on the team had been around the pitch more than a couple times, they knew we’d never last trying to run all game. There was quite a bit of passing, keep-away, and more than a couple healthy shoulder tackles with some hip action thrown in.
At the end of the season, much to our surprise, The Dinosaurs were victorious, winning the league. I think the league may have had another season but I don’t remember a third. It was several years before another league started up.
Side note: Adam Nielsen, former Town of Normal Councilmember (he was a reporter with WEEK at the time) and now Director of National Legislation and Policy Development for the Illinois Farm Bureau, was on the team (maybe the second year).
Michael Perez