The North Greene Knights Junior Football League held a special commemoration on October 3rd. The community affiliated football league commemorated their founder Roger Allen with the dedication of the Roger Allen Memorial Football Field at the White Hall Rez.
Allen founded the league in 1985 and helped to self-fund the league through his business Ace Hardware and a person loan for its first few years in existence. Over time, Allen along with a short list of dedicated volunteers built the league up to one of the oldest and larges non-school affiliated junior football leagues in the state.
According to the Greene Prairie Press, Allen’s widow Brenda and the rest of his family were on hand for the dedication which included the unveiling of a sign and the awarding of a jersey to the family.
Allen passed away in 2016. He eventually turned the league over to the White Hall Lions Club, who have their own operations for running and sustaining the league each year.
Members of the organization went to the City of White Hall six years prior to finally provide a permanent home to the team. According to current President Chris Ford, the idea to always dedicate the field to Allen was the idea. Prior to that, the team played home games at a mixture of places between the White Hall and Roodhouse area.
The afternoon was capped by two games, with the lightweight team facing Calhoun and the Heavyweights defeating the Jacksonville Jr. Irish in overtime. The 8th Grade players were also given special recognition between games.