Organized football on the rise in Woodstock

The Woodstock Wolverines have wrapped up their 2026 competitive season. The focus now shifts to its flag program in the hopes of getting more kids involved in the program. (Contributed photo)

Lee Griffi, Editor

The Woodstock Wolverines organization has wrapped up the 2026 competitive season has come to an end but there is plenty of football to come.

The U18 team finished with a record of 3 wins and 4 losses, while the U16 squad, in their first-ever season, finished with 4 wins and 3 losses.

Even when we were indoors way back in February and March, when we started the camps and tryouts, it looked good. But again, it's hindsight, you know, you look good against yourself,” said the club’s executive director Joe Brown.

“It's the real test is when you go against other centers. And really right out of the gate, we looked great. The kids are bought in, the coaches are bought in. That U16, I'm really excited about. We've got a few of the kids from our original development league that we restarted are now playing at that age level. Now we're seeing that the fruits of our labour kind of come through,” he added.

Brown added the U18 team has struggled somewhat as player commitment has been an issue, but they are persevering.

“It's kids that are working. They're pretty much adults and it's different attitudes, it's a different work ethic. But at the end of the day, we're still trying to instill hard work in them. Put the work in and we will win. So that's been a really resilient group. We've had a few players quit for jobs.”

Despite the challenges, Brown said the season was very rewarding for the organization, and he is grateful for everyone involved in minor sports.

“Not just for me, but a lot of volunteers have put in a lot of hard work. It's a full-time job to run a not-for-profit youth sports organization. And really, my hat goes off to all our volunteers in Woodstock and Oxford County who are involved in some kind of youth sports. It is a grind. It is a full-time job. And really, I don't think a lot of people understand the commitment you put into this to ensure that these kids have a program that they can play football in or really any sport and give them that opportunity.”

The Wolverines had U12 and U14 travel teams before the pandemic, but COVID wiped out the entire program before the decision was made to ramp it up again.

“We put in a good three years of doing the development league of the young kids, making sure that we had a core of really good coaches and started developing the kids again. Then we felt, okay, now's the time that we can go start offering these travel teams and kind of see how we did. And as you said, we're up against centers that have been doing this 30, 40, 50 years. They have that foundation well installed and are cranking out athletes, putting together championship teams,” explained Brown.

“We're definitely the underdogs coming into this, and we teach our players that it's just mindset. You have to have the attitude and the thought process that we're going to do well. And from an administrative standpoint, we know it's a building process. We know it's going to take time to get to those championships. But what we try to do is build that through culture.”

Brown added the Wolverines have great people involved, including coaches passionate about teaching the game.

“I think all of the pillars are there in place. We just have to continue to build.”

The club’s attention has now turned to the upcoming flag football season, a program it has run the last few years. Registration is now open for males and females from ages 6 to 18, with co-ed and all-female leagues available. Registration is $250 and players receive an official NFL Flag Jersey. The season runs from September to November with games on Saturday afternoons between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. and registration closes Aug. 17.

Brown said the next step off the field is to take a look at the competitive season that was.

“We're going to get together with all of the coaches, the board of directors, volunteers and parents, and basically have a town hall meeting to discuss what’s next. Do we add another travel team? Do we move up a division? Do we add more coaches? Do we do more fundraising to get better equipment? We're also talking about trying to get a scoreboard out at Cowan Park there for our guys.”

Brown added he has many people to thank for the growing Wolverines program.

“I'm super, super fortunate to have the coaches that we have. I'm feeling really blessed with this season how it's come together, and the kids are enjoying their time. It's a bright future for football in Oxford County.”