Editor’s note: Earlier this summer, The Review presented a story on the LOBOS Soccer Club’s 30th anniversary. That organization was actually an offshoot of the Orion Oxford Soccer League and formed in the 1980s. A story on the OOSL, which is in its 30th year, follows?
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Soccer is easily the most popular sport in the world.
It’s popularity in Orion and Oxford, however, didn’t start until the late 1970s when a group of parents joined forces to start the instructional Orion Oxford Soccer League.
Orion’s Doug Bastian and Oxford’s Barry Crowe were co-presidents when the league was formed.
‘What we started with the Orion Oxford Soccer League was the beginning of the sport in the area,? Crowe said.
‘We all got together because there weren’t soccer opportunities for the kids in our area,? Bastian added.
The pair was joined by several other organizers, like Gerry Bieser, John Martel and Klaas de Boer.
Bastian said there were leagues at the time in nearby communities, like Troy, but nothing in Orion.
‘We were a little behind the times,? he said.
The men had no idea what would happen next.
‘We wanted competition to be un-emphasized to the point where the kids could just go out and learn and enjoy the game,? Bastian said.
Bastian was teaching grade school in Pontiac at the time and saw soccer as something both boys and girls could participate in together.
‘The first year, we were just amazed,? he said. ‘The response was much greater than what we expected.?
‘Within the first five years, we had already signed up more kids for soccer than they did for baseball,? he added. ‘We didn’t do it for anything other than to get kids playing soccer.?
Crowe said the first goals were built with 2X4s by the league organizers, and the nets would be put up and taken down by coaches after each game.
‘We did the teams by geographical areas, so it’d be easier to arrange practices,? Crowe said.
This, too, helped the sport thrive, he noted.
‘The beauty of having the neighborhood teams is that they’d get together and play constantly at lunchtime at school,? he said. ‘We wanted our children to enjoy the game of soccer.?
Clinics were held for coaches and officials to help get the parents more involved in the sport.
‘It was just an explosion of teams after that,? Crowe recalled. ‘That’s why we started these clinics. And it just kept getting bigger and bigger.?
Crowe said the sport grew especially on the girls? side in the first few years.
‘We never dreamed it would be so well accepted,? he said. ‘Having the professional team in the area helped get some interest, too.?
The professional team was the Detroit Express (which played at the Silverdome), whose coaching staff included the renowned de Boer.
‘He was very good about spreading the interest of the sport,? Bastian noted.
‘I was delighted when we got to the point where we could have a high school team in Orion,? he added.
Bieser, who became league president after Martel, another league organizer, in the early 1980s, helped start the program at Lake Orion High School.
‘We were actually fielding a player for about $4 or $5,? he said of the first year at LOHS.
Bieser coached the boys? team (Herb Bonich led the girls?) the first two seasons and said that among other things, the goals were donated and the two teams shared uniforms the first year.
‘The boys even used OOSL shirts for their first two games,? he noted.
The first LOHS team in the fall of 1982 had 32 players and went a respectable 7-7-1. They went 11-2 in season two, including a heartbreaking 3-2 district loss to Troy.
A job transfer forced Bieser to give up his coaching duties, though he later coached at Waterford Kettering.
Still, much like Bastian and Crowe, he loved the instructional levels of the game.
‘By the time I was OOSL president, we had over 800 players,? he said. ‘It was a growing league and 80-percent of our players were from Orion.?
As a result of the league’s relationship with Dave Fulton, who coached in Brandon, the Lake Orion, Brandon, Oxford Select Soccer Club (or LOBOS) was started a handful of years after the OOSL.
LOBOS and the OOSL both are thriving in 2008, much to the delight of the original Orion soccer pioneers.
Crowe lived in Oxford until 2003, taught physical education in Bloomfield Hills, and coached soccer in that district, too.
He now lives in Florida, but was back in town recently and took a trip by Friendship Park.
What we got started is still flourishing on those fields,? Crowe said.
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Sign up for the OOSL
Ready to play soccer? The Orion Oxford Soccer League is accepting registrations for the fall 2008 soccer season.
There is space available on all teams from ages 3-13. The fall soccer season runs from Sept. 6 through Oct. 25.
No soccer skills are necessary, just a willingness to have fun and play soccer. The registration form can be downloaded at www.ooslsoccer.org.