BALTIMORE, MD. – Pop Warner officially kicked off its season on Monday, August 24th with Ravens All Pro Jonathan Ogden serving as the Official Nationwide Kickoff Ambassador.

Various Baltimore-area Pop Warner programs took part in the annual event, held this year at M&T Bank Stadium prior to the nationally televised preseason game between the Ravens and the New York Jets.

To celebrate our 2009 Nationwide Kickoff, Pop Warner players took the field before kickoff and lined up alongside the Baltimore Ravens for the National Anthem, and a scrimmage was held at halftime between two Pop Warner Jr. PeeWee (8-10 year-olds) programs.

Complimentary game tickets for local Pop Warner organizations were also distributed by the Ravens. This year's Pop Warner Nationwide Kickoff also involved more than 20,000 children (ages 5-15) taking part in ceremonial kicks across the country.

View the Photos from this year's event

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Baltimore Ravens Serve as Host of the 2009 Nationwide Kickoff

Date: August 20, 2009

BALTIMORE, MD. – Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., the world’s largest youth football and cheerleading organization with more than 400,000 participants and the only youth sports organization that emphasizes academics as a prerequisite for participation will celebrate the start of football season and the NFL’s and USA Football’s Play Football initiative by conducting the fifth annual Pop Warner Nationwide Kickoff hosted by the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD. 

The event will include a ceremonial kickoff by Baltimore-area Pop Warner participants before tonight’s Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Jets nationally televised preseason game on ESPN. Former Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowl Offensive Tackle Jonathan Ogden will conduct a pre-kick pep talk and take part in the event.

The Baltimore Ravens will support Pop Warner in their Nationwide Kickoff event as the Official NFL Team Host by incorporating additional Play Football festivities into the event.  Those activities in addition to the Nationwide Kickoff will include Pop Warner participants lining up alongside the Baltimore Ravens for the National Anthem, and an eight-minute scrimmage at halftime between two Pop Warner Jr. PeeWee (8-10 year-olds) programs and complimentary tickets for local Pop Warner organizations to the game.

The Pop Warner Nationwide Kickoff is expected to involve more than 20,000 children (ages 5-15) taking part in ceremonial kicks across the country, while the kick from M&T Bank Stadium will take place at 4:00 PM (ET). The ceremonial kick is designed to celebrate the start of the football season, promote participation in youth football and coincides with the start of the Pop Warner season and road to the Pop Warner 53rd Super Bowl and 22nd National Cheer & Dance Championships at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL.  The ceremonial kick will be conducted with a commemorative Spalding football, the Official Football of Pop Warner and select programs across the country will also use the commemorative football.

"We are excited to have the Baltimore Ravens involved in the Nationwide Kickoff.  The Ravens have been great supporters of Pop Warner programs in Maryland, so they were a natural choice to serve as our NFL Host this year,” said Sam Mutz, National Football Commissioner of Pop Warner. “The Pop Warner Nationwide Kickoff gives programs across the country a chance to celebrate the start of the season as they begin their road to the Pop Warner Super Bowl and National Cheer and Dance Championships while simultaneously enabling Pop Warner as an organization to take a proactive role at the grassroots level of participating in the NFL’s and USA Football’s Play Football initiative.”

About Pop Warner
Founded in 1929 and headquartered in Langhorne, PA, Pop Warner Little Scholars is the world’s largest youth football, cheerleading and dance organization and the only youth sports organization that emphasizes academics as a prerequisite for participation.  Currently there are over 400,000 children in Pop Warner organizations in 43 states, Guam, Scotland, Germany, Russia, Japan and Mexico.  The NFLPA estimates that 70% of all current NFL Players got their starts in Pop Warner programs.  For more information on Pop Warner and its programs visit www.popwarner.com. You may follow Pop Warner on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Pop_Warner