Some passions dwindle away, some are forgotten, and others reach the end. But for senior soccer players in Lynnfield, the New England Over-the-Hill Soccer League makes sure that’s never the case.
This past Friday, the over-62 Lynnfield Olympians gathered to celebrate their Division II championship victory from the fall. Lynnfield Chair of the Board of Selectmen Phil Crawford hosted the celebratory event – one full of smiles, pictures, and cake.
“Everybody showed up, so that was a lot of fun,” Crawford, who still has leftovers, said. “A good time was had by all.”
The league, which began in 1981, is the largest amateur senior (30 and above) soccer league in the world. Lynnfield F.C. (football club) is well-respected within the league, and is the only organization with teams from all age divisions (over-30, over-40, over-48, over-55, over-62, and over-68).
Spiros Tourkakis, a longtime Lynnfield resident who helped create the LFC in 1981, said he wanted to make a change in soccer players’ lives, adding “adult soccer was really non-existent” in Lynnfield.
“We created another team, and it turned out to be a snowball effect – now we have six,” Tourkakis said. “The main idea was to bring health and fitness to our population [and] to the residents of Lynnfield.”
The Olympians (10-1-1) beat the town of Bolton’s Nashoba team 3-0 in the championship.
“It’s a very happy moment and a very satisfactory moment. That [through] all these years, hard work has paid off,” Tourkakis said. “We had a lot of fun and a lot of joy.”
From the moment the final whistle blew, Crawford said it was a memory that will never be forgotten.
“We allowed, by far, the least amount of goals in the league,” Crawford said. “We got a trophy and everyone on the team got t-shirts that read ‘fall 2022 champs.’”
Crawford began playing in the league during his 40s, and hasn’t taken his cleats off since. He says it’s “a very large league of dads from the entire North Shore,” and that it gets him up and moving on weekends.
“You play at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning and you’re all done,” Crawford said. “The game’s over by 10 a.m. and you’ve got the whole rest of the day to yourself.”
Winning aside – which is always a plus – Crawford and Tourkakis enjoy the league even more because of how much everyone in the “close-knit community” plays with smiles on their faces.
“We’ve all become very good friends,” Crawford said. “Typically after every game, we’ll go out and grab something to eat.”
Those are just a few, but if you ask Tourkakis, the league’s benefits are endless.
“This competitive play keeps us healthy,” Tourkakis said. “The love, the joy, the friendship – and we stay fit.”
Tourkakis thanks the town of Lynnfield, particularly the recreation commission that runs the fields. Both he, Crawford, and the rest of the Olympians can’t wait for more soccer in the near-future.
