Thursday- December 7, 2006- Morning

Hi, there, everybody ! Hey, did you see we made the ESPN Sports Center Highlight Reel yesterday? Yeah, baby, “Number 5” play of the day, and not just one play but a four different action-packed beauties, all by Pee Wee teams! It's just one more example of how Pop Warner is synonymous with youth football and cheer all over America!

I want to take a little time today to address any of you out there who are contemplating starting up your own youth football and cheer programs, and debating whether Pop Warner might be the way to go for you. Well , “debate” no longer. And, put aside any fears you might have about getting lost in the shuffle by joining a big national organization. Pop Warner is THE way to go, and a half million enthusiastic young people and their families will agree in a heartbeat!

To get an idea of why all the excitement and learning experiences shared by 20,000 people here at Pop Warner Super Bowl Week is indicative of the same positive energies that can spread throughout YOUR community, I sat down with Jon Butler- National Executive Director of Pop Warner - in the media room of Disney's WWS to answer some misconceptions about the Pop Warner Experience that some of you may have.

Number 1 - “Doesn't Pop Warner Cost Too Much?”

Okay, well…have you priced a Sony Play Station 3 lately? And, call me crazy , but d'yuh suppose playing Pop Warner beats playing “Doom 3” all to heck for achieving healthy mind/healthy body among kids in your community?? Sorry, I digress. Jon Butler has much better answers to any concerns about “cost”:

“Well, first of all, the registration fees for Pop Warner are set by the local program, and almost by default, they look at the demographics in their community, they look at the registration costs for other youth sports activities in their community and generally they want to be in line with those other sports. They don't want to price themselves out of that market.

Secondly, from a National Office perspective, the registration fee to us is $30 per tackle football team, $22 per cheer or dance squad, and $ 10 per flag football team. So, it's not like a lot of money is steered our way.

And, the thirdly, yes, we do require insurance. But, because of the size of our program, and our great track record of safety, we actually have extremely competitive insurance rates. Our “age/weight” schematic and our 15 year loss-run give insurance companies something solid to look at.” Okay, so what about ‘start-up funding?' Can Pop Warner National help us with that need? “

Jon tells me, “One of the benefits of Pop Warner is that we are one of the partner organizations of the NFL Youth Fund. Each year, we receive what the NFL Youth Fund calls ‘local agency grants.' These monies funnel through our office but directly to local Pop Warner programs. We are required to see that 25 % of that funding gets to start-up Pop Warner organizations. It's a fact of life that starting up any football program, including Pop Warner, is expensive. Usually, the local program is buying the uniforms, helmets, equipment. In some cases, local parents fund that for the first year or two. But, usually the local association buys it, keeps the equipment, amortizes it , and replaces it. I know, my son went out for lacrosse this year, and although not quite as expensive as football, their equipment was still relatively expensive, and players are expected to buy all their equipment. Ice hockey equipment can also be expensive on the youth level.

In Pop Warner, well over 90 % of our local associations own their own equipment. In those cases, the players family has to supply tee shirts, shorts, athletic supporters and possibly shoes, but that's it.“

Number 2- “But, Our Kids Are Bigger Than Other Kids”

First time I heard that old bromide, I was attending a Pop Warner information meeting in Lebanon, NH last winter. At that meeting, a couple asked, “ Can our son play Jr. Pee Wee. He's eight years old, “ “Sure, “ the Pop Warner people replied, “What's his weight?” The parents' answer floored me,” 150 pounds”! Later that session, I saw the young fellow and, well…let's just say , I'm not sure the kid did much running around on a regular basis.

So yes, “age/weight” is the standard of Pop Warner Football involvement, along with maintaining good grades in school. And, is that a bad thing? Consider what Jon Butler has to on that matter:

“Pop Warner's age-to-weight schematic is based on the current weight-to-age matrix put out by the National Center for Disease Control. Certainly, if someone can point out any information that's more relevant than that, we'll be happy to take a look at it and perhaps adopt it. At any age group with Pop Warner, we consider the tenth percentile to below, and the ninety-fifth percentile and above. Yes, it's true that some children fall beyond one end of that spectrum or the other. But, part of the problem, the growing problem in America, is obesity in children. A lot or people think their children may be bigger, when in fact they may be obese, “ Jon points out. “And, one of the scary things is that we read a study, about a year ago, that with children who were clinically obese, only 20 % of their parents saw those children as being overweight.”

So, with its strict adherence to “age/weight” categories, can Pop Warner point to a safety record that is equal to, or superior to, other youth sports organizations? Again Jon cites the stats, “ We have studies from the Mayo Clinic , the U. S. Consumer Products Safety Commission and similar organizations showing that Pop Warner football is no more dangerous than any other youth sport. And, one of the more fascinating aspects of those studies is that organized youth sports have anywhere from 1/5th to 1/8th the safety incidents of what we all regard as typical ‘kid activities'- bicycle riding, skate boarding, in-line skating, snowboarding. Those activities have exponentially higher injury rates.“

Number 3 – “But, I'll Need To Start Up With Too Many Divisions”

Not true. In fact, most Pop Warner programs start modestly and grow from there. With Pop Warner , “ success breeds success”, as well as “participation”, and it doesn't take long to happen. Again, Jon addressed this concern:

“What we often see is a new local association with Pop Warner joining an already existent league. And, usually that league will work with them. For instance, if a new association can only provide two or three teams in two or three age/weight divisions the first year, an area Pop Warner league will work with them, let them join, and help them to grow. If you want to start up a whole new league in Pop Warner, we require eight teams. The point is, we know you need to build an expectation for participation and fund-raising so that people in your area will start saying ‘Hey, football season is coming, Pop Warner football . We need to support them.' We don't want programs to be overwhelmed . So, we work with a lot of programs from modest beginnings. A local example is right here, not far from Orlando. A program started up about eight years ago with 12 teams total with the name ‘Foundation For Youth' development. I said, ‘That's a wonderful name, but can you sustain it?' Well, they're doin' it! Now, they have something like eighty teams. They have an outstanding scholar program. They're doing a fabulous job. So, it can be done from modest beginnings.“

Jon adds that Pop Warner Football becomes one of what is, today, called “co-curricular “ activities in local school systems. “Right in my own home community of Hopewell Valley, NJ, we started Pop Warner program a few years ago, and we went through a bit of a battle to get community buy-in. Some people just didn't like football. But, one parent made the point ‘ You know, I've always loved football. But, I was never good enough to play, even in high school. But, I only way I got to college was on a band scholarship. One of the things that's gonna happen, if we get Pop Warner in Hopewell Valley and then football in the high school, is that we'll double the size of the school band, they'll have to add another cheer squad, and kids will get involved in all those activities.” Talk about a positive spark, and opportunity for all!

Number 4 - “Once We Sign Up, National Will Forget About Us”

“Absolutely not,” replies Jon. “Although no communication is perfect, especially in this day and age, we have email addresses for about 70 % of our league people all over the country. We at National send out regular updates on coaching clinics, safety clinics, legal things that local associations need to consider, fund-raising strategies and opportunities, information on IRS changes, and more. The biggest communication problem we have is that there is about a 35% turnover average per year with parent volunteers moving up to high school after their child matures through the Pop Warner program. So, it's always work on our part to keep up with new people, new email addresses and more. But, we continue to send out a tremendous volume of information. But, you look at the number of visits to our popwarner.com website every day, and you'll see that the average length of stay is staggering…12 minutes in the off-season and 20 minutes during the season! So, we know people are going to that website, and everything we communicate can be accessed there as well. “

Thanks, Jon. Wow! Talk about an organization committed to the very best experience for all its friends - long-time as well as new. So if you're out there, contemplating a football & cheer start-up program with an awesome emphasis on total learning for kids and their families, get in touch with the PWLS National Office in Langhorne, PA. Ask questions, get feedback, and I'm sure you are going to discover, as I did a dozen years ago, “Pop” truly IS “true blue for you.”

Watch for more “Field Notes” this afternoon!