Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 25, 1995 TAG: 9505250043
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY D. DAVIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The 18-and-older league started in 1981 as the Roanoke Senior League, but changed its name in the late 1980s, said Terry McGreevey, league president. Many participants have played in leagues in other cities such as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
McGreevey, who is one of the "founding fathers" of the league, said his love for the game is commonplace where he grew up - England. "I was raised in Europe until I was 18. Over there, it's the most popular sport."
McGreevey admits that soccer can be a violent sport, and some of the players have families and full-time jobs. Why not take up something safer, like jogging?
"I love the game. I'm addicted to the game," said Dave Rogers, a member of the Liverpool Football Club.
Rogers, 30, has played soccer since he was 6 years old. He stopped playing after high school, but his love for soccer and more chances to play brought him back.
The league is composed of a variety of people, McGreevey said. About 35 percent of the 180-member soccer league is from foreign countries, including Bosnia, Iran, England and Russia.
Nine club teams interplay each other on weekends at River's Edge Sports Complex or wherever else they can find a field, said McGreevey, who schedules the games as well as the league championship. Clubs recruit members from all over Western Virginia, including Lynchburg, Christiansburg and Blacksburg.
About 99 percent of the players are male, but McGreevey said he thinks that should change.
"It's a shame we don't have a girls' league," he said. "As more and more girls play in high school, hopefully it will feed into the adult league."
On a recent Saturday morning at River's Edge, the Rayders, a group of mostly middle-aged men, play the Misfits, a group of younger men and women primarily from the Botetourt County area.
One of the oldest players in the league, 48-year-old Ray Equi, plays for the Rayders. He has played soccer for 23 years, longer than some of his teammates and opponents have been alive. Equi plays also in the over-35 league.
"When you get old, it's terrible," he says.
His 12-year-old son, Raymie, plays soccer, too. Equi never misses his son's games unless they interfere with one of his.
Tom Dunleavy, a Rayder, limps off the field. He's had enough for today, he says.
"I was an ex-basketball player, who at 27 couldn't do what I'd done at 20," says Dunleavy.
Dunleavy, now 43, started playing soccer because he though it would be a great way to meet people when he moved to Roanoke nearly 13 years ago.
"It's the teamwork, the excitement, the beauty of the game," that keeps him playing through injuries, says Dunleavy.
There's "an art to it," he says.
The Rayders won the game 3-2.
by CNB