Birmingham United will face a retooled rival when the OAA hockey season opens this fall.
Zach Lietz, a Lake Orion native and former Rochester United assistant coach, has been named head coach of the Lake Orion-Oxford co-op hockey team, The Oakland Press reported Tuesday, July 22. Lietz said his goal is to rebuild the Dragons into a perennial contender, with deep playoff runs against top Oakland Activities Association programs, including Birmingham, in his sights.
The hire coincides with a structural change: Oxford High School is joining Lake Orion in a new co-op arrangement, giving Lietz a broader talent pool to draw from as he builds the program. A photo published by The Oakland Press shows Lietz directing players during a Rochester United game against Livonia Stevenson on Saturday, Jan. 31.
Co-ops reshaping the conference
Lietz's Lake Orion-Oxford squad is not the only new multi-school program entering OAA play. Bloomfield Hills Schools approved a MHSAA cooperative agreement with Waterford School District and West Bloomfield School District to field a varsity ice hockey team, a move the district's Board of Education authorized at its Monday, July 28, 2025 meeting. That decision added another co-op to a conference that already includes Birmingham United, the combined varsity program drawing players from Seaholm and Groves.
Both new co-ops expand the pool of OAA teams competing for playoff berths in the same bracket as BU.
Birmingham United's summer prep
Birmingham United has been on the ice through the offseason. The program held a summer hockey camp June 16-18 at Birmingham Ice Arena and has scheduled additional summer skates for returning Seaholm and Groves players, incoming freshmen, and other Birmingham Public Schools students through August 19 at the same facility.
The summer sessions are open to returning BU Prep and Varsity players, current BPS high school players not on either team, and incoming BPS freshmen.
What's ahead
The 2026-27 OAA hockey schedule has not been released. Specific matchups between Lake Orion-Oxford and Birmingham-area teams have not been confirmed. Birmingham United's summer skates continue through Wednesday, Aug. 19 at Birmingham Ice Arena.
