C.A.S.A. celebrates 25 years
By Lynn Warren CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Emilio Peiro (center), Jose Sanchez (right) and Matt Topee of the Chesterfield Adult Soccer Association practice kicking and blocking on the soccer field.

It wouldn't be totally accurate to report the Chesterfield Adult Soccer Association

C.A.S.A.) will celebrate its 25th anniversary this fall. In actuality, the multinational, multicultural and multigenerational soccer league has been celebrating since its inception.

"It is the most beautiful game in the world," "It is the most beautiful enthused Jose Sanchez, president of C.A.S.A. for the past 25 seasons. "Anybody can play and in our league everybody plays. It's a league built on camaraderie and family orientation. We develop friendships that last a lifetime."

Under its current format, C.A.S.A. includes 24 Hispanic, eight Men's over 18, six Men's 50 and over, and six Women's over 18 teams. Sanchez speculated that the Hispanic league may soon expand to 30 teams, and a husband and wife league is in the planning stages. (Ten couples already play in the league.)

C.A.S.A., the Spanish word for home, was a name carefully chosen by Sanchez, and is an important aspect of the association's competitions.

Sanchez

"It is not unusual to have hundreds of people at one of our games," he said. "Families bring their national flags and picnic, cookout and just hang out after the games."

The influx of immigrants from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala, where soccer is king, has led to the rapid expansion of C.A.S.A.'s Hispanic league. But, Sanchez reminded that the Association is "a melting pot. We have Irish, Arabs and Jewish players all on one team." In addition, he pointed to one of the 50 and over teams, the Beefeaters, which fields a team of Armenian, Colombian, Jordanian, British, Greek and American players.

Sanchez's daughter Natasha confirmed the Association's diversity. "Just on my women's team we have first generation Greeks, Spaniards, and Lebanese," she said.

C.A.S.A. puts approximately 2,000 players on the pitch for spring and fall 10-game seasons plus a playoff series.

"We started out with only four teams in the old Greenfield league," remembered Sanchez.

The initial contests were not without their physical challenges. "In the beginning, guys were overweight and out-of-shape. It was not unusual for someone to pass out or throw up," and the games also had their share of humorous incidents, said Sanchez.

"One older guy headed the ball and his toupee fell off. We had a lot of guys try to impress us. One guy claimed he had played professionally in Spain and didn't even know he was supposed to switch ends of the field at half-time. He'd never played soccer before in his life," Sanchez speculated.

C.A.S.A. depends on team registration fees, which run from $900-$1,200. Referees, lighting, trophies, goals and nets eat up most of the funding.

Sanchez admits that he gave up on fundraisers years ago. "It's hard to get adults to go door-to-door selling cookies," he joked.

He came to that conclusion after one player gave him a lump sum for his entire cookie consignment. When asked if he had sold them all that quickly, the player confessed, "No, I ate them all myself."

C.A.S.A. tries to keep its competitions "low-key and low-stress," but Sanchez admits the trophies presented to the winning teams are important, particularly for the Hispanic players. "The South American players love gaudy trophies - the bigger the better. If it's six feet tall, and they can't put it through the door, they're happy," he joked.