Oconomowoc Youth Football Releases 2015 Game Schedule

OCONOMOWOC, Wis. - July 10, 2015 - PRLog -- Oconomowoc Youth Football (OYF) has released its 2015 game schedule for all nine Bandits teams.  While the format remains an eight game schedule against other clubs in the Wisconsin All-American Youth Football League (AAYFL) there are several items unique to 2015.

The season kicks off on Saturday September 12 and concludes on Saturday October 31.  The season typically begins the first Saturday of September, but this year the first Saturday is on a weekend holiday as Labor Day is Monday September 7.

All OYF home games for 5th – 8th grade will be played at Ski Slide Park in Ixonia, WI.   This is as a result of OYF and Oconomowoc High School’s inability to agree to terms for games to be played at Rux Stadium at Oconomowoc High School.

This will be the final season for Head Coach Larry Williams (8 Bandits Purple) and Head Coach Tim Nelson (8 Bandits Gold) and the players on those teams.   8 Bandits Gold final home game will be October 10 and 8 Bandits Purple will conclude their season at home on October 31.

All Bandits Gold teams will play their first three games at home and their last three games on the road.   All Bandits Purple teams will play their first three games on the road and their final three games at home.

7 Bandits Black is the only non-Purple or non-Gold team in the program.   This team will play all eight games against clubs that are not on the Purple or Gold schedule for 2015.  This is the first team named “Black” in the program since 2013.

On Saturday October 3, 8 Bandits Gold will play at Arrowhead Stadium against the Lake Country Chiefs White.   The winner of this game will be the winner of the “Battle for 16” rivalry game and will hold the new traveling trophy for the next year.   The name of the game was chosen following an invitation to both clubs to submit their own ideas for the name.  The entry chosen was submitted by former OYF assistant coach, James Lazar, and represents both programs proximity to Wisconsin Highway 16 that stretches between Oconomowoc and Hartland.  This “rivalry” game is intended to be a fun addition to the annual game and imitates the rivalry games played between many NCAA Big Ten football programs.

On Saturday October 10, eight of the nine Bandits teams will play their games consecutively at Ski Slide Park.   Kickoff for the first game, 8 Bandits Purple vs. Kewauskum will be at 8:30am.  The day’s final game, 8 Bandits Gold vs. Muskego Red will be played under the lights at Ski Slide Park with a kickoff time of 7:30pm.  This will be the first night game at Ski Slide Park since 2012.  Members of OYFilms will be filming events throughout the day for the release of a new OYFilms movie in 2016.  7 Bandits Black will be the lone team on the road and is playing at 5:00pm in East Troy.

On Saturday October 24 all nine Bandits teams will play on the road.  This will mark the first time in the program’s history that OYF has hosted no games on a Saturday during the regular season.

The season will conclude October 31, 2015 with five games at Ski Slide Park.   All children under 12 will be invited to wear their Halloween costumes and trick or treat at Ski Slide Park throughout the day. Appropriately, 7 Bandits Black will host the final home game of the 2015 season at 3:00pm.

With the exception of 7 Bandits Black, the opponents for the final two weeks of the season (October 24 and October 31) for all teams will not be named until the 8th grade playoff pairings are determined.  The AAYFL 8th Grade Grand Championship will be played on Saturday November 6, 2015 @ 10:00am.  The winner of the AAYFL North Conference will host the championship game.

On Saturday November 6, 2015 both Bandits eighth grade teams will play a non-regular season game at Arrowhead Stadium against the combined eighth grade Lake Country Chiefs.  This game is scheduled to provide additional playing time for reserve players for both clubs.   Following the game, both clubs will enjoy pizza together provided by the Lake Country Chiefs and the Oconomowoc Bandits.   This season will mark the second time these clubs have played an end of season game and will be an annual tradition moving forward.  If any of the two clubs teams are in the AAYFL Grand Championship game held on this date, the game will be rescheduled to an earlier or later date.

The schedules for all nine Bandits teams are published on http://www.oconomowocyouthfootball.org   These schedules are current as of July 10, 2015 and determined by the AAYFL.  The schedules are subject to change based on field conditions, scheduling conflicts, and other factors as determined appropriate by the AAYFL.  All changes will be published and updated on the Oconomowoc Youth Football website.