Football Club at Oakland University: Building a tradition of success

In early 2013, Oakland University students established a football club team. With one game left in this historic inaugural football season, the team gets a bye week before traveling to Ohio to take on Ohio State's club football team on Sunday November 10th. OU is 3-3 and currently ranked #12 in the NCFA football league.

The new football club at Oakland University is off to a fast and historic start. With fewer than 40 players on the team, they played their first game in Flint against UM-Flint and won. The followingweek, OU traveled to Wisconsin to face UW-Milwaukee and after a score of 28-26 came back to Michigan victorious.

The joke T-shirts "OU undefeated football since 1957" became something real, and became somewhat of a motivator to keep winning.

In the first historic home game versus Cougar Club Football from Columbus, Ohio, OU emerged victorious with a score of 29-26. The culmination of the first home game put OU at three straight wins. Attendance at the first home game numbered around 800 at the 300-capcity Auburn Hills Civic Center football field's. People eager to see OU's first football team brought lawn chairs, while others stood around the field to catch a glimpse of OU history in the making.

OU started the season toward the bottom of the NCFA, a club football league of roughly 26 teams nationally. After the first three games, OU was atop of the Great Lakes East conference and ranked #3 overall in the league. The front offices of the NCFA were astonished to see how rapidly the brand new OU football team developed and the success it had become.

On October 12, the  team traveled to Ohio to play Wright State. The undefeated streak ended with OU losing to Wright State 31-13. With the streak ended, the football club is regrouping with a goal to win the Great Lakes Conference. Their next home game was a Breast Cancer Awareness game on Saturday, October 19 vs. Miami (Ohio). Two hundred shirts were donated and proceeds went to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. OU's final home game was October 26 versus UM-Flint. The team has become OU's rival, and fans were encouraged to dress in Halloween costumes.

All home game admissions were free courtesy of the football club's corporate sponsor, RE/MAX of Southeast Michigan. Vitality Dance Club performed at halftime and WXOU broadcasted all home games live on-air and streaming online.

Overwhelming support from faculty, staff, students, alumni, local businesses and the surrounding community humbles the new football club. With more than 2,000 Likes on their Facebook page, they are one of the most popular clubs on campus. With the momentum and support gained from its first year, traditions that the new football club are building this first historic year aims to enrich the overall college experience at OU for years to come.

Story by Nic Bongers, e-learning & instructional support department, Ph.D. student, football club adviser