About The Oceanside Youth Football Association (History)
Just prior to 1999, Oceanside was part of the Nanaimo Football Association. On April 19th, 1999, Oceanside pulled away from Nanaimo Football and formed the presently-named Oceanside Youth Football Association(OYFA). At the same time, they entered their team into the newly formed Mid-Island Co-operative Football League with Jim Lynch as President and Joe Martino as Vice-President.
The very first year, Oceanside had 3 Junior Bantam teams(ages 12-13 yrs) in the league (namely, Packers, Eagles, and Vikings). Rod Poole coached the Packers, Chris Graham coached the Eagles, and Sean Hines coached the Vikings. They played against Port Alberni, Campbell River, and Duncan.
OYFA also had one Bantam team(ages 14-15 yrs) called the Posse. The Posse was coached by Joe and Chris Martino. The Posse played against several teams on Vancouver Island from Campbell River to Victoria. They went on to win the Provincial Championship that year. Two years later, the Bantam Program folded as the same age group was picked up by the Ballenas Whalers Junior Varsity Football Team.
It is believed that the PeeWees (ages 9-11 yrs) started around 2000 or 2001. The PeeWees consisted of team names such as, Panthers, Vikings, and present day Lions. The Lions Peewee team won the Vancouver Island Canadian Football Association (VICFA) championship in 2024.
In 2000, the Junior Bantam Eagles under head coach Chris Graham won the Mid-Island Championship. In 2001, the Junior Bantam Packers under head coach Rome Novak, won the Championship. Then, it was not until 2013, did history repeat itself, when the Junior Bantam Titans under head coach Brad Burns won the Championship.
Over the years, there have been several teams involved in the Mid-Island Co-operative League, like teams from Salt Spring Island, Campbell River, Comox Valley, Port Alberni, Duncan, Ladysmith, Victoria, and Nanaimo. Presently, we have 8 Jr. Bantam teams and 6 PeeWee teams in the Mid-Island Co-operative League with the outlook of further expansion.
In 2016 , Restructuring of the program began. The TITANS program was decommissioned from the OYFA program. Board members voted to bring the program under one banner of the OCEANSIDE LIONS PEEWEE and JB programs. New uniforms and logos were implemented. In 2022 a new Atom flag team was started, the club now has 3 teams.
The club almost ground to a hault as COVID put a stop to all sports, however new club President Colleen Rai & VP Tanya Pitt worked hard with a new executive to rebuilt the club & to recruit players & coaches. The club and it’s new executive (elected in January 2024) now enjoy returning players & coaches every season & the results are getting better & better.
