Police Agencies Plan Benefit Football Game

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies and police officers from various cities will square off Saturday in the 13th annual Pride Bowl, a football game to benefit Oxnard’s Police Activities League and Neighborhood Watch.

“It’s full-contact, full-throttle, pads and everything,” said Ed Ludaescher, who coordinates Oxnard’s PAL program. “Yes, sometimes people get hurt. But it’s all for the good of the community, for the love of the game.”

The game will take place 6 p.m. at Channel Islands High School in Oxnard. Tickets cost $5, and T-shirts will be on sale for $12 and sweat shirts for $25. About 400 people attended last year.

Former San Diego Chargers star Chuck Muncie will preside over the opening coin toss and, after the game, auction off sports memorabilia at the Lobster Trap restaurant next to Channel Islands Harbor.

The games between the Raiders, made up of local police officers, and the Badgers, who are sheriff’s deputies, have been a lopsided affair through the years, with the deputies winning about three-fourths of the time, Ludaescher said. But they are becoming much more even.

“I played in the first few games, and I won’t do that anymore,” Ludaescher said. “I leave that stuff to the guys who are out on the streets banging heads every day.”