The North Oakland Blue Dragons Track and Field Team is representing Oxford and the Oakland County area well at the 2008 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympic Games.
More than 12,000 athletes from 50 states are competing this week in eight age-groups in 22 sports at the 2008 AAU games held in the Oakland County and Detroit areas including at Eastern Michigan University.
The sports range from baseball and basketball to swimming and track and field.
Warren Skeete, of Oxford, is the coach of the Blue Dragons.
He said there are 55 kids in the club and 30 of them competed in district qualifiers.
Of the 30 who competed, 28 won the right to compete in the national championships.
‘We have a good diverse group and some very talented kids,? Skeete said. ‘They have worked hard to get here.?
The group includes several Oxford residents as well as some from Lapeer County, Clarkston, Auburn Hills, Pontiac, West Bloomfield, Waterford, Rochester and other locations.
The members of the club compete in middle school and high school programs at their respective schools while some are high school graduates.
Several of the students have already received recognition on local and state levels and Skeete said he expects a good showing at the national competitions.
Results of how the local athletes performed will be in next week’s Leader.