The Oakland Athletic League will host a football showcase on Saturday at Laney College, bringing together all six of its teams to kick off the start of league play.
The first-annual OAL Football Classic will match up Oakland High and Skyline at 11 a.m. followed by Fremont-Oakland and Castlemont at 3 p.m. The primetime matchup will pit McClymonds against Oakland Tech at 7 p.m.
All three games will be played back-to-back-to-back at Laney.
“Being born and raised here, I’ve always known the history and tradition of our rivalries for football,” OAL commissioner Franky Navarro told the Bay Area News Group. “Normally, our rivalry week is the last week of Oakland Athletic League play right before playoffs. And in my time as commissioner, we usually get to that end of the season, with McClymonds being so dominant over the years, it’s been a challenge to get the teams to really get up to play to their full potential.”
McClymonds is the odds-on OAL favorite and has not lost a game in the league for 15 consecutive years, with the exception of a forfeit in 2024.
“So I came up with the idea of moving that week to week one to kick off a rivalry week here in Oakland, and then work with Laney to have a venue where we can play all three games at one site,” Navarro continued. “It’s a way to bring the community together and really showcase all of our schools at one location.”
Navarro said the event will have food trucks and resource booths available for those in attendance. Tickets will be available on GoFan, and fans with tickets will be able to leave and reenter Laney over the course of the day’s action.
“Our goal is to have an event that’s really bringing back the community,” Navarro said. “And for us, it continues to really change the narrative about how people feel about Oakland Unified School District. And so we thought it would be also great to just offer any food truck vendors, community resources an opportunity to have tables, as we are not only just serving our students, but the families in our entire community.”
Health and wellness resources and enrollment resources will be available to those in attendance, and Navarro added there is no cost for “anyone in the community that wants to have a presence at this event.”
A Castlemont grad himself, Navarro wants to use the occasion to connect spectators with the city of Oakland and Oakland Unified while also bringing back the feeling of big-time Oakland high school football rivalry games for a new generation.
“There’s been a long history of these games dating back before my time,” Navarro said. “We’re trying to bring that back to this current generation that still hasn’t really fully embraced those rivalry weeks, in a sense. You get the Fremont-Castlemont, Tech-McClymonds and Oakland High matchups and it brings out those alumni, those communities together.
“What a better way to do this than a format that’s similar to the state championship games where you got three games at one site. It really maximizes the exposure to the community and kicks off the season as well.”
A graphic posted by the league noted that it is seeking volunteers for the showcase event. Those interested are asked to email jeffrey.taylor@ousd.org.
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