SOCCER CITY PALATINE
by Sylvie Green
For thirty years, Soccer City has been an important part of what has connected Chicagoland soccer communities, and that's saying a lot. After first making its mark as an indoor tennis facility, like many of that era, Soccer City Palatine was born when the popularity of indoor tennis facilities was waning and indoor soccer was on the rise.
F
ew people know the evolution from indoor tennis to indoor soccer better
than Hank Aldrich of another USIndoor Member, TST Systems, who has been a long-time supplier for Soccer City. Hank has lent his expertise to the Richardson family many times over the years.
When Peter Richardson started the business in 1984, it was one of the first indoor facilities in Chicago. "There were three or four of us," says Michael Richardson, Peter's younger son who is General Manager of Soccer City. "Now there's, like, what? 20?"
Before it was Soccer City, it was the Arlington Tennis Club. When the facility
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opened, it was half soccer and half tennis. Eventually, soccer took over completely.
Michael remembers working at Soccer City as a kid. "I was probably sweeping the floors at 12 years old." He was what he calls a "soccer rat," meaning he could play at the facility whenever he wanted. No elite clubs dominated the fields.
It was around then, or slightly earlier many might say, that soccer was truly beginning to gain prevalence and recognition at amateur levels around the US. Still, it had not yet entered many neighborhoods. If you were in elementary school, or your kids were, there may have been an opportunity to play, but soccer's prevalence was a far cry from where it
is now, as most modern parents with preschoolers will attest.
"They had soccer programs in high schools, but they were no big deal. In the 80s it started to pick up." Now you can watch premier teams play all over the world whenever you want. Then, if the Richardson family wanted to watch the Chicago Sting play, they had to go to a game.
When Michael went away to college, he played soccer for a year at Illinois State University and stayed involved in the business. He worked for his dad during the summer. In 1988 he began a professional indoor soccer career.
"In the early 80s and 90s, indoor soccer was the only way that you could actually make money playing soccer. I was young and I was a local so they stuck with me for a while." He played with the Chicago Sting for one season and then with the
