OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — The Oshkosh Raptors Youth Football Program closed out its 2024 season in an unfortunate way, after a $3,500 piece of equipment was vandalized on Tuesday.
- The Oshkosh Raptors Youth Football Program is a non-profit with the goal to provide north side kids more opportunities to play the sport.
- On Tuesday, Oct. 22, the program's $3,500 piece of equipment was vandalized.
- The program runs on a tight budget, so replacing the equipment will not be easy.
For kids on the north side of Oshkosh, there’s not a huge opportunity to play football.
"All the new construction in Oshkosh goes to the west side of town, all the new funds in Oshkosh go to the west side of town," Oshkosh Raptors athletic director, Alex Del Vecchio says. "We lose a lot of kids because when new construction comes to town and new families move to town, they primarily move to the west side into the newer housing.”
The Oshkosh Raptor Youth Football Program, formerly known as the Oshkosh Eagles, looks to change that each year.
“Last year they had 95 kids, this year we went to 116 kids, so we just see the potential on this north side," president of the Raptors, Jay, says. "Just giving them the little opportunities that they don't get all the time, giving them something to look forward to next year."
Del Vecchio says the goal of the program is to give young players a safe space to learn the sport and grow as people.
"Knowing that the kids are learning how to become leaders in the community," he says. "I feel like the more we can teach that at a young age, the better chance we have to get these kids moving forward."
A non profit, the program tries to keep football affordable for families while giving kids the best experience they can. For $175, each player was registered, received a personalized jersey and was able to play under the lights at the Oshkosh North High School football field.
Jay says they rely on donations to keep the program successful.
"We got to work our butts off just to get the money to build a program, to get the kids new equipment and to get all the stuff that these kids need," he says. "We have to do a lot of fundraising."
A bit of that hard work was taken away this week, after the program found their field on the corner of New York Avenue and Jackson Street vandalized.
The program's linemen chute, used to teach players how to block properly, was destroyed.
"They broke off two of the legs from it and kind of left it all mangled up, and then they used part of the legs that they broke off of it to try and break the locks on our gear trailer," Del Vecchio says.
The Oshkosh Police Department was notified, and they say they are still currently looking for juvenile suspects.
The piece of equipment would cost over $3,000 to replace.
Del Vecchio has been a part of the program for several years, but he says he's never experienced anything like this.
"Really upset and discouraged– I mean all of us coaches, players, we put in hundreds of hours over the course of the season and so to find out, you know, right at the end of the season, that something that we use to teach these kids proper techniques, you know, gets destroyed and might not be around anymore and might not be replaced if we don't have the money, is really hard," Del Vecchio says.
In the past, the program has used a more secluded field on Congress Street near the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. However, the university canceled their lease because they could no longer afford to maintain the field, according to Del Vecchio.
Del Vecchio says the goal of the program is to teach kids the value of hard work and leadership, and the setback is another learning experience for his players.
"You know, there's a lot of negativity in the world and if you can show them how to be positive and work through injuries or anything like that, how they can come back from it and still be stronger or better the next time, that's what it's really all about," he says.
