Chicago's 2008 LGBT sports scene kicks off with a tribute to its past.
A 30-year tribute to the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association ( CMSA ) , the nation's largest LGBT sports organization.
The 30th anniversary party will be held 4-8 p.m. on Sun., Jan. 6, at the Hard Rock Café, 63 W. Ontario. Advance-purchase tickets are $10 for members, $30 for guests, and include an open bar.
'I always hoped CMSA would last this long,' said CMSA president Marcia Hill, who joined the organization in 1982. 'The key has been that there are so many people who have the passion and dedication to promote gay sports.'
Those people would include Sam Molinaro, and certainly also Dick Uyvari, Peg Grey, Art Johnston and thousands of others.
'If it wasn't for Sam running things early on, I don't think we'd be at 30 years. Sam did a tremendous amount of work, especially those early years,' Hill said.
CMSA started as a four-team 16-inch softball league, played in Lincoln Park. It now has more than 3,500 members playing so many different sports.
Just consider some of the CMSA numbers from 2007:
* 115 beach volleyball teams
* 46 women's softball teams
* 43 men's softball teams
* 80 men's indoor volleyball teams
* 24 women's volleyball team
* 200 badminton players
* 96 indoor tennis teams
'Things really took off big time for CMSA in 1986,' Hill said, noting the benefit of the switch from men's softball changing from 16- to 12-inch balls.
And the CMSA just continues to expand.
See chicagomsa.d4sportsclub.com .