Pop Warner Football:
Pop Warner football has been around since the inception of the league in 1929 by founder Joseph J. Tomlin as a four-team conference in Northeast Philadelphia. Since then, participation has steadily increased to today's record numbers. Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. (PWLS) is a non-profit organization that provides youth football and cheer & dance programs for participants in 41 states and several countries around the world. Consisting of approximately 360,000 young people ranging from ages 5 to 16 years old, PWLS is the largest youth football, cheer and dance program in the United States.
Pop Warner continues to grow and serves as the only youth football, cheerleading & dance organization that requires its participants to maintain academic standards in order to participate. Pop Warner's commitment to academics is what separates the program from other youth sports around the world. As the only national youth sports organization that requires scholastic aptitude to participate, Pop Warner is committed to developing America's young people on the field and off. Each year Pop Warner continues to expand its efforts in team and activity participation, as well as visibility and outreach in the community.
Since 1929, the Pop Warner Programs Philosophy has been that athletics and scholastics go hand in hand. At every level, Pop Warner programs seek to develop well-rounded young men and women who learn not only the fundamentals of football, cheerleading, and dance but also the importance of education in an atmosphere conducive to developing sound character while having a good time.
Pop Warner is the oldest established Coaching Education & Instruction Program among any of the national youth sports organizations. Keeping the program safe and fun for all participants is among Pop Warner's highest priorities. Pop Warner provides the only national youth football program rulebook, to assure consistency and safety.
Pop Warner has expanded working relationships with the NFL, NFL Players Inc., Walt Disney World, Walt Disneyland, Fox/Fox SportsNet, NBC, ESPN/ABC and a growing number of corporate contributors, sponsors and licensers, such as Reebok, US Airways, First USA, Wilson and many more.
With school budget cuts eliminating Elementary/Middle School extra-curricular activities, Pop Warner has become an important ally to local schools, and parks & recreation programs.
High School football and cheer coaches rely on Pop Warner athletes as the ones who have had proper training in the fundamentals in their sport. These scholar/athletes are the ones who show discipline, teamwork and strong leadership in all levels of the sport.
Kids compete with kids of similar age and size. Pop Warner is the ONLY youth football program (local, regional and national) that sets and enforces a strict AGE & WEIGHT MATRIX that reduces the risk and reality of injuries. Did you know that Pop Warner football is safer than soccer? Pop Warner football has 12% fewer injuries per capita among 5-15 year olds than organized soccer in the same age range! (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, NEISS)
WHY THERE ARE NO PERSONAL STATISTICS:
Pop Warner exists to use football, cheerleading, dance and a respect for education to develop strong, smart, responsible, healthy young men and women. We give them experiences that build their appreciation for and understanding of leadership, teamwork, and discipline.
While individual statistics may be more common, particularly among older football players, Pop Warner only recognizes the athletic accomplishments of the team, not the individual. We don't track personal tallies of touchdowns or yards rushing per game. We don't count sacks or blocked kicks. We applaud the athletic efforts of the team to reinforce the importance of teamwork, with each member.
We don't try to build stars. We don't want to over-inflate a young ego, nor do we want to risk injuring the self-esteem of a young person. Whether our kids have good days or bad, they are still an integral part of our team…and always will be.
