The Ontario Football Conference fields 2500 players in 21 cities throughout Ontario.
The OFC is one of Canada's largest football leagues and runs in two divisions: Junior - for ages 17 to 22; and Varsity: for ages 11 to 19. The Varsity Division includes age groups Senior Varsity, Junior Varsity, Bantam and PeeWee. The Junior season runs through the fall; and the Varsity programs run in the Spring. Both culminate in a provincial play-off and championship.
The OFC Story
The Ontario Football Conference was founded in the mid 1950s by the Toronto Argonauts Old Boys, led by Don Durno and Dan Shaw. The League consisted of several Toronto area teams from Scarborough, Weston, Parkdale and Lakeshore, among others.
In 1957 the Burlington Braves joined the League and then Oshawa and Hamilton followed in the early sixties. In 1970 the OFC and the Junior ORFU (Ontario Rugby Football Union) amalgamated with teams from Windsor, Sarnia and Brantford becoming part of the new League. Later the Ottawa Sooners of the Ontario Quebec League joined the OFC, as did a team from Verdun, Quebec. The Conference provides a place for persons 22 years of age and under, who are not playing in a College or University program, to continue to play the game and to improve their football skills.
Over the years the League has fluctuated in membership with as many as 13 teams and 3 divisions during the 1970's. In 2010, there are 7 teams competing in the OFC, the Burlington Braves, the London Beefeaters, the St Leonard Cougars, the Windsor AKO Fratmen, the Hamilton Hurricanes, the Ottawa Sooners and the Brampton Bears. The OFC is part of the CJFL (Canadian Junior Football League), which consists of Conferences in British Columbia and the Prairies. As of 2010, there are 19 junior teams playing in the CJFL.
Every November the top teams in the CJFL battle for the Canadian Bowl, symbolic of junior football supremacy in Canada. In various forms, this trophy has been competed for since 1908, making it one of Canada's most historic championships.
In 2008 the OFC started the Varsity Division, expanding in 2009 to Junior Varsity and Peewee for a total 16 teams. Again expanding in 2010 to 36 teams in 4 age groups. The league plays an exciting brand of three down Canadian Football to prepare athletes for Junior or CIS play. The league's founding members are clubs with a long and successful track record of competitive play and sound administration. As part of the growing OFC they join with clubs that are committed to football at the highest level of football outside of professional and CIS play.