Lake Buena Vista, FL – There are a lot of “firsts” for Rachel Stalker and the Billerica Braves cheer squad. 

The first time Billerica has made it to the Pop Warner championships, the first year for head coach Brittany Silva, and first year of cheer competition for Rachel Stalker.  But that isn’t what caught everyone off guard after their first routine Wednesday morning.  The girls looked like deer in the headlights when the MC asked them to return to the mat just after they finished their routine. 

Only for them to be surprised by Ronald Stalker who flew back all the way from Afghanistan to see his daughter, Rachel, compete for the first time.

“This experience is beyond words,” says an emotional Silva. “To witness something like this is unbelievable.”

Ronald made a grand entrance after his year and a half of service.  He came through the main entrance to the mat and surprised the entire team when they turned around to greet him.

“To see Rachel perform was outstanding,” Ronald proclaimed affectionately looking into the eyes of his daughter.  “I’ve never seen her cheer before so it’s incredible for me to be here.”

The Billerica squad surrounded Rachel and her father as they shared an out of body moment together embracing each other for a couple minutes.
“Rachel talks about her dad every day at practice,” coach Silva explained.  “This really shows how much of a family we really are.”

There are several great story lines here at the 54th Pop Warner Super Bowl, but none of them tug on the heart strings like Ronald surprising his daughter Rachel to see her perform in her first cheer championship. 

There was another fun competition happening today at the Pop Warner Super Bowl involving Panini, the Official Trading Card and Sticker of Pop Warner. It all started when Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie defensive tackle Gerald McCoy stopped by to participate in a “Panini NFL Sticker Swap!” And, before long, the “Swap” was non-stop!

Check out the Video of Gerald McCoy at the Panini Sticker Swap

Now, back-in-the-day, American kids used to flip cards. Today, the hottest new thing is to collect Panini NFL Stickers and swap or trade with your friends. Sure, card-collecting is still cool. But,  Panini has brought a whole new sports collecting tradition to the U.S.  It’s something that people in other countries have been doing for decades – only, this time, it involves America’s favorite pastime!

It’s called a “Panini NFL Sticker Swap!” And judging from all the action over at the HESS Pavilion on the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Panini’s just kicked off a winner with Pop Warner & NFL fans from coast-to-coast!

“What’s all the excitement about?”  Well, here’s the skinny from Panini’s own Scott Prusha. “We’re really happy to bring the NFL Sticker Collection and Swap Party to the Pop Warner Super Bowl with our first officially licensed NFL Sticker and Album Collection. It’s easy to get going with it, and it’s the most bang for the buck anywhere!” 

What Scott says is awesomely so!  Because, for exactly one crumpled up “George Washington”, you can buy a shiny new Panini NFL Sticker Collection packet with (count ‘em) eight great stickers inside…one of them a hologram!

Now, all you need is one other thing. For just two crumpled  “George Washington’s”, you can pick up your own amazing, high-quality, Panini NFL Sticker Album (available at your local Wal*Mart, Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walgreens or iParty stores).  

Once you have the album (which includes a free packet of NFL stickers), just keep picking up packets, match up stickers by teams, players & numbers, peel ‘em, stick ‘em in your album, and you’re on your way! Get more packets, swap “doubles” of anything with pals, and keep rolling! 

Once you’ve collected 560 different NFL player stickers, and filled out your album with complete team rosters, you’ll have a real conversation piece – your very own complete NFL Sticker Collection that can be a yearbook for the season. 

For Pop Warner teams, the first team to complete two NFL Sticker Albums wins an equipment grant for new helmets and a local NFL Player appearance! 

Cool, huh!  And, as any Pop Warner fan knows, working towards your final goal is the most fun of all. That’s where an “NFL Sticker Swap” comes in.

To show you what a blast an NFL Sticker Swap can be, we headed over to the HESS Pavilion this afternoon to meet the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s sensational Gerald McCoy, and find out just how much fun he, and a bunch of Pop Warner players, were having wheeling and dealing with their own super swap. To discover what we found out, just click on the link below and check out the video!

Scott Prusha tells us that, “Collecting and swapping Panini NFL Stickers is a great way to teach even ‘Tiny Mites’ about organization, numbers, placement and geography.”

And, if your Pop Warner organization is in or near a city with an NFL team, there are lots of ways to get good coverage and turnout for your very own NFL Sticker Swap.

“For example,” says Scott, “recently The Boston Globe had inserts placed in every copy of the paper with Panini’s New England Patriots NFL Stickers on them”. They also had one special ‘gold’ sticker sheet in one copy. And, as Scott adds, “Whoever was lucky enough to pick up the copy of the paper with that ‘gold’ sheet in it,  got to have a Patriots player and Pop Warner alum Julian Edelman visit their school.”

And, get this. If you had the Boston Globe copy with that special gold sticker sheet in it, you didn’t even have to live in Boston! Panini would handle the travel expense of getting Julian Edelman to your school!  Now, that’s some promotion for any NFL team, any city paper, any school and ANY Pop Warner organization to cook up for their own area, so be on the lookout!

To find out more about this hot new NFL collecting craze, check out Scott Prusha and Tracy Hackler with “The Art of NFL Sticker Collecting” at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbf-c5xP13Y

And, for the last word from the Hess Pavilion on all the fun in store for YOU, here’s Gerald McCoy- one great NFL rookie and one stellar swapper wrapping up the competition!

As you walk around the complex here at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports on this opening day of Pop Warner Super Bowl 2010, great stories of dreams come true pop up at every turn.

And, for one of the very best of those stories, you didn’t have to look any further than Practice Field 4B earlier today where an undefeated Division I Jr. Midget team knew, and was thankful for, just what it takes to “give wings to a dream.”

Running them through the drills that helped the Southside Falcons – Jr. Midget from Dallas TX become this season’s - D-I Southwest Region champs  were the Falcons’ coaching staff, including Asst. Coach Wardell Crittenton and Head Coach  - Pastor Anthony Anderson. 

If their guys still looked as if they’re on “Cloud Nine”, well hey , who could blame ‘em?  Just a few days ago, despite defeating a tough Colorado team by a convincing 25-6 margin to grab the PWLS Southwest Region championship , few except Pastor Anderson and the Falcons most loyal supporters felt their team had a prayer of realizing their BIG dream…the dream of getting to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports and a shot at a National title.

You see, the Falcons Faithful were short the funds needed, $20,000 short to be exact, to send their super team to the Super Bowl of Pop Warner. "We knew it was going to really take a Christmas miracle," Asst. Coach Crittenton recalled,  "We were hopeful we’d get it."  Hopeful, yes. But, man, what a longshot!

Even as they celebrated an undefeated season, this talented group of middle school student/athletes on the Falcons, many of whom live in tough parts of South Dallas, knew that money was tight all around.  All of them also knew, and appreciated, just how much their coaches had already contributed to their success this year, and not just through long hours of dedication on the football field.

Last Wednesday,  Savone Rollison, 13 yr old running back and linebacker for the Southside Falcons, told Dallas Morning News reporter Marc Hernandez, “ Our coaches treat us like we’re their sons. They love us. And, they give a lot of their own money to support us. And, that’s kinda hard, you  know.” Savone added, “ Most of the team says that, it’ll be like a dream come true if we can somehow go to Florida, because they’ve never been. And, I’ve been dreaming about this since I was 5 years old.”

Now, how many of you remember that great lyric from a Disney animated classic that says, “A dream is a wish your heart makes…”?? Well, even if you never heard that tune, you can sure appreciate its wisdom, especially when you hear what happened next for the Falcons!

Whitney Eichninger- spokesperson for Southwest Airlines- told me, “When we came across the story about the Southside Falcons in the Dallas Morning News, it was such a heartfelt story of accomplishment,  about these players and coaches who had given so much to their school, on the field and at home, that I got in touch with their school and with reporter Marc Hernandez and said ‘ Hey Marc, we’d like to help.’ ”

And help they did! Said Whitney, “We got to work at Southwest, scrambled around, and were able to get them all on a plane to Orlando, Friday evening.”  Oh, and did I mention that Southwest covered the cost themselves?  Ms. Eichninger smiles when she recalls, “When Coach Anderson and the boys found out they had their transportation covered they were so appreciative!”

Now, add to Southwest’s contribution more 11th hour support from a whole lot of folks, including individuals in South Dallas neighborhoods, Budweiser, a local radio station DJ, and Dallas community backers Chris and Cathy Packard, who gave the team $5,000.

Said Chris Packard, former Executive Director of the Dallas County affiliate of “Susan G. Komen for the Cure” (Global Breast Cancer Movement) and a former owner of multiple McDonald’s franchises, "When you have a group of kids who are working so hard, this is a great opportunity for them to know that their hard work can pay off.” Chris added, “ I know that I’ve been very fortunate, and I'd just like to pass that on."

And, the team’s reaction to all the last minute, heartfelt  backing? "It's been overwhelming," said Pastor Anthony Anderson, the team's first-year coach and director of Victory Life Ministry, a Christian-based drug treatment center near Fair Park. "It's happening. Thanks to prayers and a whole lot of good people, it’s all really happening!"

What was it Asst. Coach Critendon said it would take to realize the Southside Falcons dream, “a Christmas miracle?” Well, the funny thing about dreams, if you make ‘em from the heart, if you believe in ‘em from the heart , if you work, play and commit –with all your heart- you can attract others to that dream, others who can help make “miracles” happen!

A big Pop Warner thanks to all the folks around Dallas, and all the fans and sponsors both nationally and internationally , who’ve helped  give wings to so many drams here at Pop Warner Super Bowl 2010!

"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence." - Coach Eddie Robinson- Grambling College – 1941-1997

Hi Everybody! And, welcome, champions all, to Pop Warner Super Bowl 2010! When we say “champions all”, we mean just that!

From Wescon to New England, from Panama to Canada , this 54th Pop  Warner Super Bowl is already the greatest gathering of youth football, cheer & dance champions the world has ever seen. And what better place to hold this all-time gathering of champions than at THE World - ”Disney World” - and the exciting newly named “ESPN’s Wide World of Sports!”

Whether your record on the field, or on the mats, shows that you’ve swept through all the competition with big time scores, or whether it reflects the grit you’ve had to battle through and win by the narrowest of margins, you are ALL champions, and ALL deserving representatives of your communities and your regions.

So, as we kickoff this great week, please keep in mind that what you’ve achieved this season has been awesome! And, as Pop Warner’s Executive Director  Jon Butler reminds us all, “This Pop Warner Super Bowl week is an amazing experience for athletes, coaches, families and fans alike. So win or lose, remember most of all to enjoy this great experience, have fun , make new friends, store up great memories. Because your being here proves that you’ve worked hard to reach your full potential…and yes, you are already champions.”

Okay everybody, tee it up!  Good luck and have fun all you champs. Cause…here…we…GOOOOOOOO!