You can hear the shouts of coaches, the yells from fans, and a hip-hop soundtrack as the Dallas Cowboys run through drills at an Oxnard football practice complex.
San Francisco has the 49ers. Los Angeles has the Rams and the Chargers.
And, for a few weeks each summer, Oxnard is home to the pro football team known as "America’s Team." Once again, Dallas Cowboys fans from around the country are on hand to get a close-up look.
"It's $4,000 to go see them in Dallas. So, this is a cheaper route...$50! Are they really explosive enough?" asked Greg Williams of Riverside.
Does he think they are worth the $4,000 trip? "From what I'm seeing out here, compared to last year, there's a difference."
Williams is at the Cowboys camp with his wife. "I became a Cowboys fan by marriage," joked Jenna Williams. But she said she now loves watching the games on TV and going to games.
Fans can watch the practices from bleachers for free or, for a $20 ticket, step onto the field and stand on the sidelines as the players run through drills. Scott Pittman of San Diego is thrilled with his close-up view.
"I've been a Cowboys fan since the 1970s. I've lived in California my whole life. But I've never come to the camp; it's my first time," said Pittman. "This year, I gave up my Comic-Con tickets for this."
There are a lot of families here. Miguel and Marlene Juarez of Los Angeles brought their young son.
"He's Lincoln. He's a year and a half old," said Miguel Juarez as he held his son. "He's a new fan. He loves it. Look at the jersey!" But, did he have a choice? "No. No choice," laughed Juarez. Marlene Juarez said she's a bigger Cowboys fan than her husband. "He didn't have a choice. He married into it."
The Cowboys have a long history in Ventura County. From 1963 to 1989, they did their summer training camp in Thousand Oaks, using the California Lutheran University campus. Then, in the early 2000s, they returned to Ventura County, but this time to the River Ridge Playing Fields in Oxnard. This year marks their 19th season in Oxnard. Community leaders love it because the camp attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually, with some staying in local hotels and campgrounds, and frequenting local restaurants. With the team in the city for around a month, it also brings national exposure to the city.
But, for fans, the bottom line is fun.
Eddie Issac and his father are walking down the sidelines with two football helmets covered with autographs of Cowboys players.
"We got all the rookies, all the line came to us," said Issac. "We got everybody you could think about on there. I'm a collector. I also run a bar called Mi Hacienda de Pico Rivera, which is home to the Southern California Dallas Cowboys Fan Club. Three hundred to a thousand members come every Sunday to watch the games.
What happens if a Rams or Chargers fan shows up? "You'll get kicked out," he joked.
Fans line up to take pictures with a costumed superfan who’s a fixture at Cowboys games. His name is Miguel Castellanos, but people know him as “Supercowboy.”
He describes the wild outfit he's wearing: "It's a little bit of football player, luchador kind of cowboy. I've got boots, I got football pants, I got football pads, and I got a luchador mask," said Castellanos. He said whenever he goes to a game, or even a practice like today's, he always comes in full gear.
But not everyone here is a Cowboys fan. Raymond Cobb comes to the camp every year with his wife and a group of friends from Sacramento. But he admits his loyalties lie elsewhere. He's a Las Vegas Raiders fan. "My wife is a Cowboys fan, " said Cobb. "That's why I'm here and I'm supporting her." Does his wife and their friends have a hard time with the fact that he's not a Cowboys fan? "I get it all the time. I've been threatened, and I've got to walk home. Sacramento...it's a long walk!"
Shamus Hayes's team loyalties are also a bit of a question mark. The San Bernardino County man said he and his young kids are here because of his wife, Carol, who is a Texan.
"She thinks I am a Cowboys fan, and our two baby boys are Cowboys fans. But, I would pick the Chargers," he joked. What happens if their kids like other teams when they grow up? "No way," said Carol Hayes.
The team wraps up its 2025 Oxnard camp with public workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday before finishing its preseason in Texas. Fans are excited that the team and the city of Oxnard just signed a new five-year deal, which will keep the Cowboys' summer camp in Oxnard through 2030.
