Our Past | Present | Future  

Our Past

Although we've grown to a board of 10 with 30+ members,  Oakville Minor Football (OMF) was founded by three parents and coaches who were concerned about providing a safe and fun environment for their kids to play football within Oakville. 

 

There was a Halton Football Club which belonged to the OVFL (Ontario Varsity Football League) before the OMF - called the "Invictas" at the time. For readers of this webpage who are new to football, the OVFL is a very senior Rep League who's athletes can approach College and CFL levels. OVFL teams are the right place for really senior, experienced kids who have the size and speed needed - but for the rest, OVFL offered Oakville teams an 0-8 season every time - that was not too fun - and not too safe either as it turned out.

 

The OVFL was not the right place for 90% of our players in fact. Our kids were newer to football and their skills were no match for mature OVFL organizations. We survived high injury rates and considerable organizational shortfalls only to realize a zero-win season. Clearly Oakville needed two things: first; a well-run, truely not-for-profit Minor Football club - similar to Burlington's BMFA and Mississauga's MFL; and second, a strong focus on player development and safety. OMF has aspired to be this for Oakville from the beginning.

 

SCOFL - The South Central Ontario Football League - in contrast, is traditionally an entry-level to pre-college "Rep" and House League level of football - for kids who want a balanced, safety-first chance to build their skills until they are ready to enter into College Varsity level football - and beyond.

 

In September 2008, SCOFL accepted our application to build the first not-for-profit football organization in Oakville, and we, alongside the honourable Rob Burton, Mayor of Oakville, began to build the "Oakville Gridiron" organization. As a result, our House League and Rep teams will get the chance to begin spring 2009 as the mighty Titans - just about the coolest team in town - now how exciting is that?

 

Our Present

Past | Present | Future  

OMF is entering our second year of operations, and what an amazing first year - filled with quality programs, championship teams, a terrific safety record, unbelievable community support, and a terrific fiscal financial story - says it all. A few highlights included:

 

• Oakville native and Argos GM, Michael "PinBall" Clemens, dropped by to cheer on our JV team for a pep-talk as they headed off to win the ONTARIO "AAA" championships in Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium. 

 

• 130 of our parents and players got involved with our Ivor Wynne day - compared to 200 BMFA tickets sold. Wow!

• The OMF fielded more Oakville kids on tackle teams than any other group - and our teams were 99% Oakville residents as well.
• We sent 14 coaches through Level 1 certifications this year - and counting.
• Our game news and stats were in the Oakville newspapers more than a dozen times this season - so OMF kids get noticed!

 

Our nine-member board is comprised of parents, teachers, and coaches that wanted our kids to have a fun football club to play and develop youth  - with an emphasis on safety and development - and with the ability to play within a league not half-full with elite, pre-CFL-level players. 

Its a lot of work - for example, did you know that Oakville - the richest town in Canada - has a shortage of football playing fields? And that new leagues cannot easily get playing time without fielding players in previous years? Oakville loves Soccer - and has 15,000 kids gobbling up every square patch of green-space - and also few football fields we have. But thats only one challenge...

 

Then there's coaching staff, referees, trainers, sponsorship, fund raising, equipment, insurance, recruiting, accounting, logistics, planning, swag (team tee's and jerseys), art work, websites, office equipment and phones, competing priorities - and you start to get the picture.

 

The Future

Past | Present | Future  

 

We're lucky - because we've got a great, talented and committed group - and a great story - and so we hope you'll join us by either registering your kids; suggesting or helping us in new league-building ideas, volunteering within our committees, or by sponsoring our teams and events. If you think you have the time and might like to help by joining our team, just take a look at our committees and find something that suite your interests and skills. We'd love to see you on our team...