The Dinamo Football Club of Los Angeles was founded in the Summer of 2004. Co-workers Dayle Burton and Stan Berezovsky started kicking a ball around in the early mornings at Hazeltine Park in Sherman Oaks and both realized that they’d given up something they loved, and needed to get on that.
With the assistance of the Los Angeles Municipal Sports Soccer Program Free Agent list, and an open session at the pre- synthetic Griffith Park field Dinamo Internazionale was formed, and played in the Muni Sports First Division. We got battered every game apart from one – and word was that if you could survive the first season, then you could be around for years.
Like lint on velcro Dinamo added players until we had too many for the roster restrictions of the Muni program. Thus in 2005 Dinamo Red Star was added – they played a division up in the Minor Division. Then into the Muni over 30 program – we added Dinamo Lokomotiv.
Dinamo Red Star won promotion into the Major Division, so we expanded again and Dinamo Shakhtar went into the Minor Division and Dinamo Spartak were formed in the Over 30 ‘C’ Division, since Dinamo Lokomotiv finished top three and were promoted to Over 30 ‘B’ (you keeping up ?).
We lost a couple of lads to jobs on the East Coast – but once bitten by the bug, what are you going to do ? Thus Dinamo Gotham was formed.
One of our greatest adventures was our partnership with LA Vale in Summer of 2007. Dayle administered the Vale squad in two competitions – the Muni SuperMetro Division and the Los Angeles Premier League – Dinamo’s first time outside the Municipal programs. The foundation of Vale was the Winter / Spring Dinamo Red Star squad with some breathtaking additions from Robbie’s stable. LA Vale won everything in it’s path in Summer 2007, running two campaigns which often meant two games in two days, and once or twice three games in four days. The history of the LA Vale has yet to be written.
In late 2007 Dinamo FC was invited to field a team in the Los Angeles Premier League taking the place vacated by the Vale. Initially called Dinamo FC, but later (and finally) named FK Dinamo, the team lost it’s first seven games and looked like becoming the league’s whipping boy. But this squad turned out to be made of stronger stuff and regrouped to finish 7th in it’s first season winning Dayle the LAPL Manager Of The Year. The FK squad finished 6th in their second season under the on-field leadership of captain Nick Emmerson.
Dinamo was fundamental to the foundation of the Union Football League (AAL 5028) in January 2009. Dinamo Sputnik – the difficult child of the family had tried to find a home in the Lafayette Park 6 on 6 League downtown, and in the Santa Monica 7 on 7 – and though the team finished second in their division in Santa Monica – things were still not right. Dinamo Sputnik was reformed in the Union Football League (our second adventure outside the Muni program) and finished a creditable mid-table. The Sputs will return in 2010.
While we all felt it was important to have an entry level team in the Muni program, after a couple of dalliances with the top four positions, Dinamo Internazionale made the First Division play-offs under the leadership of Mauricio Muraro in Winter /Spring 2009 – winning promotion to the Muni Minor Division. This created an opportunity for expansion in the First Division again, and so under the distinctive leadership of Yossi Levi Dinamo Zenit was formed in Summer 2009. Yossi has played for Dinamo Red Star in it’s promotion winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and had been the energy behind Dinamo Shakhtar’s promotion winning seasons of 2007 and 2008.
Credit goes to the team that formed in 2004 at Griffith Park that got all this started – the ones that are still with us, in spirit if not on the field: Dayle Burton, Stan Berezovsky, Mauricio Muraro, Roddy Jessup, Travis Dao, Scott Hutz, Eric Morgan and Philip White.
There’s more to be written I’m sure.
