Meet Board president Lou Dobrydnia
Lou Dobrydnia helped blaze trails for women in sports before Title IX became law in 1972, and more than 50 years later, she’s still at it.
Dobrydnia is the first woman to serve as president of the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors. After taking the reins from Mike Olson this spring, her two-year term runs until May 2026.
“I’m very proud of our board that we keep making progress, and I’m honored to be the first woman president,” says Dobrydnia, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame with the Class of 2024 in March.
Dobrydnia began playing organized sports in the 1960s, before there were girls teams in the schools. She played field hockey and softball in the Girls Athletics Association while attending LaSalle-Peru High School. After graduating in 1972, she continued playing those sports at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
After college, Dobrydnia moved to the Peoria area, taking a job teaching driver’s education and physical education at Limestone Community High School, where she also became head softball coach. She coached the Rockets for 15 years, posting a record of 309-97 while winning 10 regionals, four sectionals and making four trips to the Class AA Elite Eight. Her club placed fourth in 1980 and second in 1985, when she was named Class AA Coach of the Year by the Illinois Coaches Association for Girls and Women’s Sports.
An Illinois Softball Coaches Hall of Fame inductee and past president of the Illinois Softball Coaches Association, Dobrydnia also is a former volleyball official at the high school, junior college and major college levels.
Dobrydnia is a survivor of botulism in 1983 and a diagnosis with Guillain-Barre Syndrome in 2013 and continues to cope with effects of both.
“My illnesses made me stronger,” she says. “God left me on this earth for a reason, to make sure people are aware that the journey is not always easy, but it’s doable.”
Dobrydnia joined the GPSHOF Board of Directors in 2017 and quickly earned respect with her hard work and contributions to various committees. She was elected second vice-president in 2021 and helped the board navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. She moved into the first vice-president role the following year.
“We as a collective board work our tails off to represent the finest of the finest in sports from three counties,” Dobrydnia says. “We are blessed with an unusual mount of talent in all fields – athletes, coaches, media, officials, and the task of trying to whittle down all these great nominees to four or five individuals and three teams every year blows my mind.
“But collectively, we have a very knowledgeable board that is 100% committed to getting it right.”