OXFORD – Oxford’s youngest football players will be able to compete in their own colors this year for the first time, thanks to a group of parents who have worked hard over the last year to organize a youth football program.
“We’ve gotten a great amount of community support,” said Rob Murrer, who is coaching director for the fledgling Junior Blackhawks program.
Murrer said the need for a local youth football program hit home for him last summer, when he and his wife Kim tried to sign their then 8-year old son Jacob up for a youth football. As an out-of-towner, he didn’t make the cut for Norwich’s Pop Warner program, so the Murrers headed to Greene, where he was able to secure a spot on the municipality’s youth team.
During the season, they learned that other Oxford parents had been forced to do the same, with some going as far as Bainbridge and Sherburne to find a place for their children.
That realization led to conversations with their friends Scott and Sheri Howe about what it would take to get a youth football program started in Oxford. After doing some brainstorming, the growing group decided to gauge interest in such a program. They started by surveying kids and parents in grades 2 through 5. The response was immediate.
“Over 100 kids said they wanted to do this,” Murrer said, between football and cheerleading. They also had more than 40 parents indicate their willingness to volunteer.
With that support in mind, Murrer and the others began to formalize their intentions. First they established a board of directors and drafted a set of by-laws. Then they worked to find a place for the fledgling program in the Quad City Youth Football League, which includes teams from Deposit, Hancock, Sidney, Unatego, Unadilla Valley, Harpursville, Bainbridge and Greene.
“They did have an opening and we were lucky enough to get voted into it,” he said. They have also gotten verbal permission from Oxford Superintendent Randy Squier to use the high school football field for practices and games during the season, which runs from mid-August through the end of October.
While the Junior Blackhawk program will be run under the auspices of the Oxford Youth Sports Program umbrella and not through the school, Murrer said Oxford Varsity Football Coach Mike Chrystie has been supportive of the program.
“I think there is a good correlation between a youth program and varsity,” he said, explaining that one of the group’s long-term goals would be to have the youth team serve as a feeder for the varsity program.
Board members are already working on pricing equipment for the program, completing coaching certification requirements and scheduling sign ups for late Spring, Murrer reported. “A lot of things are falling into place.”
But the success of the program will depend on whether or not they can raise the roughly $15,000 it will take to get the Junior Blackhawks off the ground. That’s the amount that will be needed to purchase equipment, pay for necessary insurance and cover league fees and the cost of officials.
“Right now we’re doing a major fundraising (push),” said Murrer, who explained he and other organizers had been surprised at the amount of support they have already received from local businesses and service organizations, as well as individuals.
This weekend, Oxford Youth Football will host its first official fundraiser at The Stadium Sports Bar and Grill.
The event, which will take place on Saturday, will feature a live auction at 5 p.m. According to Murrer, items to be auctioned off include New York Yankees tickets, a 24” TV from Best Buy, an autographed NY Giants football, a weekend getaway in Geneva, two airline tickets to any destination in the continental U.S. courtesy of AirTrans and an AIM Fitness membership.
In addition to the auction, raffle tickets will be sold throughout the day, with winners drawn at 9 p.m. The Stadium will also be donating a portion of its sales for the day to the youth football organization.
“We’re excited about it,” Murrer said.
For more information, visit the Oxford Youth Football website at www.oxfordyouthfootball.com.