Oceanside, California-The North County Cobras wrapped up their pre-season with a 27-0 win over the East Bay Black Rhinos, of Oakland, California. The Cobras, a fixture in North County for nine years will begin their 10th season in a new home, Simcox Field at Oceanside High School. The 2009 National Champs previously played their games at Rancho Buena Vista High School and are in the Southern Division of the Western Conference in the La Belle Community Football League ( LCFL.)
The Cobras are a minor league football club. “Some people like to call our league semi-pro, there is nothing semi or pro about it ” explains Cobras general manager, Terence Webster, ” these guys all pay to play. ” Members of the team fork out $200.00 per season for the opportunity to play the game of football. The money goes to pay for things like stadium rentals and the game officials. The timers, spotters, announcers along with the coaches volunteer their time for the game.
Players of the East Bay Black Rhinos drove 8 hours in their personal vehicles to play in the pre-season game. Rhino place-kicker, Johnny Garcia, who arrived just prior to warm ups, saw very limited action but looked around the stadium with a big smile and said ” Man, there is nothing like it . Playing football under the lights. you just can’t beat this.” Garcia, like a lot of his teammates were getting in their cars to make the trip back to the Bay area, immediately after the game. Seeing the 27-0 score on the board, Rhino Head Coach, A J Williams said ” This is rough but we are going to be okay. We only had 18 players make the trip and we played okay.”
The North County Cobras, with Head Coach, Tony Vinson, begin the regular season on the road against the Southern California Steelers on August 24 with their first home game at Simcox Field on August 31 against the LA Falcons. Tickets are $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for children but kids under 10 get in free. More information about the Cobras and their schedule can be found on their website; www.nccobras.com