Pictured Marcia Hill. Photo by Ross Forman
By Ross Forman
While playing volleyball for Bradley University in the late-1970s, Marcia Hill started playing on an intramural flag football team along with her roommate, who also was a volleyball player. They were the quarterback and wide receiver, respectively, and they were good. So good, in fact, they won the intramural championship and their picture appeared in the school newspaper.
Problem was, their volleyball coach didn't know they were part-timing as football standouts. And the coach was none too happy.
Fast-forward to 2005. Hill is still consumed with flag football. She is the CMSA women's football commissioner. Hill doesn't play anymore, though. She simply referees and, of course, handles paperwork galore for the 23-team league that runs through Nov. 20, when the annual championship game will be played at Warren Park on the North Side.
'The goal of the league is to just play football, to have fun with your friends, meet new friends, and simply have a good time on a Sunday afternoon,' said Hill, who was the women's original football commissioner from 1988-1992 and resumed the role in 2004 when Elita Lerner accepted a job transfer to Atlanta.
Hill, 47, an Albany Park resident, has been a CMSA vice-president, was the president of the Women's Sports Association ( WSA ) from 1997-2001 and is the women's football director for the 2006 Gay Games.
'For most of the players in the league, football is just a great way to get away from the stress of work, to play in a friendly atmosphere. The games are competitive at all levels, especially at playoff time.'
The women play eight or nine regular-season games, across a 60-yard field, with two games running simultaneously. Often, players are joined on the sidelines by their partners, as well as dogs, dads, brothers, nieces and nephews.
'When people come out, they just want to enjoy themselves,' she said. 'When I started the league, I took the rules from two different leagues that I had coached in. I wanted them to be able to play the game of football, but not get killed. And you definitely can. That's why we do the three-second delayed rush and don't allow any down-field blocking.' ( In the men's league, they allow immediate rushing and, in the men's competitive division, they can block down-field. )
Of the 23 teams, three are brand new teams, thanks to about 45 newcomers to the sport this season. The Spinners Playgirls, for instance, are comprised of all newcomers that Hill grouped together.
About 15 percent of the action in the women's game is running, perhaps a reverse or a double-reverse. In the men's league, it is almost all passing, no running.
'The quarterbacks are usually the best players on the team and they really take it seriously,' she said. 'Back in 1988, when the league started, we had four teams and used four circles that were from a lawn-darts game, and string, for the field. And we used flour, not spray paint, for the lines.'
The catcher from Hill's softball team in 1988 was the second football referee.
Today, there are 12 referees who work the women's league, including three women.
'The league really took off in 1991 or 1992, doubling from eight to 16 teams, and I kind of envisioned that it would,' she said. 'Now, I would like to get a third field ( to use ) and expand to 30 teams.'
Last year there was a deaf team of predominantly college-aged players, using the CMSA league to train for a national deaf tournament.
Nowadays, the women range from 20 to 55, and there are public relations specialists, policewomen, teachers, computer technicians, flight attendants, pilots and other professionals. About 95 percent are lesbian. About 20 to 25 have kids. Two come to play from Michigan, one from Wisconsin. And countless area suburbs are represented, including Minooka, Joliet, Schaumburg, Aurora, Waukegan, Lansing and Woodstock. Players have endured championship games played in the snow, in the rain, and when the temperature has fallen to single digits.
Linda Bache, who plays running back and defensive back, is, arguably, the league's best player. Her resume includes time on the professional Chicago Force. Some of the league's other standouts are quarterbacks BiBi Andrade, B.J. Negrete and Kristen Rezny.
The top-tiered Competitive Division includes Joie De Vine, Wrecking Crew, Headcases and the Rebels. The Recreation Division includes Spin, Drama Free, Warsteiner Crew and Synergy, among other teams. There is no truly dominant team in either division, Hill said.
'I just like the game of flag football, even though I'm not playing anymore,' Hill said. 'I like to give back to the community because when I was in high school, it wasn't OK to be gay. I get enjoyment out of refereeing, particularly when I'm done with a game and they don't even know who the referee was.
Hill is the only woman to also referee the men's league, and one of three nationally to ref the men's Gay Super Bowl. She is Chicago's representative for the men's Super Bowl, selected by the men. She also umpired several men's summer tournaments in Chicago this past summer.
Hill's football playing days go back to her days at Kaneland High School, sort of. Growing up on a farm, when her brother Brian was practicing, Hill was at times the center, snapping the ball to him. She also at times was the running back, so he could practice handing off. And, other times she was the receiver, so he could practice his passing.
Hill played volleyball, basketball and threw the javelin at Bradley, then transferred to Northern Illinois, where she played softball for three years.
She said there probably will be 12-to-20 women's teams in the 2006 Gay Games, most from within the U.S., including at least three from Chicago.
