Date: May 10, 2010

Exciting National Events Rapidly Approaching

Even though it’s currently the off-season in Pop Warner, it’s certainly been busy around our office!

Since the first of the year, we’ve hosted the Adrenalyn Bowl, testified at a House Judiciary Committee Hearing in Houston, held our National Meeting, staged the ESPN the Weekend Pop Warner Flag Football Jamboree, and had six Regional Meetings.  And lots more to come!

On May 27th and 28th, just before our 50th Anniversary Awards Dinner, we’re hosting the first-ever Pop Warner National Convention in Philadelphia!  We’ll have one and one-half days packed with informative presentations for Pop Warner administrators, cheer/dance coaches and football coaches.  At most time slots, we’ll have multiple teaching tracks simultaneously.

Our National Staff has been hard at work, and we think we’ve got great presenters who will hit all the important, hot topics.

Then, on Friday evening and Saturday morning, we have the very sincere pleasure of honoring some of our Academic All-American Scholars at our two “Tributes to our Scholars.”  And that all culminates in the Awards Dinner on Saturday night, May 29th. 

The Awards Dinner will be held in the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  The pre-Dinner Reception will actually take place in what was the original train shed of the Reading Terminal – it’s a spectacular setting! 

Can’t wait to see a lot of you here in our backyard – learning, celebrating our Scholars and enjoying our 50th Anniversary Awards Dinner with lots of our Pop Warner family.

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Date: November 23, 2009

Dealing with Adversity

All of us talk regularly about the positive values we learn through sports – especially in team sports.  Discipline, determination and teamwork are some of those values and sports is a wonderful way to learn them.

But there’s another, less recognized asset that we learn in sports – dealing with adversity.  In the long run, dealing with adversity may be even more important to learn.  One of the realities of life at any age is that “stuff happens.”  A team mate gets injured, the ball takes a bad bounce, or an Official errs on a call.  Sports participation teaches all of us that life still has to go on. 

Vince Lombardi put it very well, and, although his words refer to football, they are just as applicable to any other sport, and to life in general.  He said, “In football, you’re going to get knocked down.  It’s what you do after that that matters!”

All of us get knocked down – on the field, in personal relationships, in business – it’s how we respond to those knock-downs that matters.  If we learn that in a controlled environment like the sports fields or gyms, it’s an important growing process in a more closed, supervised atmosphere.

Yes, it’s certainly heart-wrenching to lose a close game or cheer competition.  It’s painful for the young participants and their families, but the young athletes are remarkably resilient.  Much of that resilience comes from their sports experience.

What a vital lesson that serves them well throughout their lives.  Not a fun lesson, but incredibly important.

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Date: October 8, 2009

Touchdown Trouble...

I recently read a book, “Touchdown Trouble”, that I highly recommend to our young Pop Warner readers.  It’s written by an old friend, Fred Bowen, who’s written a number of sports books for young readers.  This is Fred’s first book about football, which is one of the reasons it’s so appropriate for Pop Warner participants.

With Pop Warner’s emphasis on academics, we always appreciate an opportunity to link athletics and scholastics, and this book provides such an occasion.  Even more fittingly, given our emphasis on sportsmanship and character, the culmination of the story presents a real moral lesson. 

The final point is that, as the author references, the plot is based on a real football game.  On November 16, 1940, a very powerful Cornell team played Dartmouth in a near-blizzard.  On the last play of a three point game, on the 5-yard line, Cornell was accidentally given a “fifth down” and scored to apparently win the game.

Think about the circumstances:  the Officials are always right (even when they’re wrong!), the game was immediately over on time, and the “winning” touchdown was scored on an illegal down. 

If you were one of the players or coaches involved, how would you deal with it?  What would your reactions be?  How would you explain the bizarre circumstances?

It’s particularly educational to see how the characters in Fred’s book react, and how the historical Cornell and Dartmouth teams reacted.  How do their reactions compare to yours?  It’s a very telling ethical situation – especially with impressionable young scholar-athletes playing.  How would you score your reaction versus how you’d score the Cornell and Dartmouth teams’ reactions?

Scoring your Season:

By now, you’re either well into your season, or in the post-season already.  With all the good times and challenges your teams/squads have faced, how would you as a coach or administrator rate your season?

Do you evaluate it by wins vs. losses?  Do you think of how your young athletes enjoyed it?  Do you think they had fun?  One of the most revealing questions is “Will they come back next season?”

Hopefully, both you and they have had a fun, rewarding experience – that’s what youth sports are supposed to be all about.  Think about it a few minutes now and file away those thoughts until the winter, then think about them again.  As adults, we have a tremendous responsibility to the young people involved.  There’s always room for us to improve how we work with them.

Thanks for all you do for the young people you so profoundly influence.

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Date: September 1, 2009

Welcome to the 2009 Season

Well, the season certainly is here – we’re all in the midst of it!

You’re up to your eyeballs in, depending on your area of responsibility, finding lost uniforms, choreographing a new routine, coordinating an offense on the proper snap count, helping players put on/take off helmets, coaching tumbling, and on and on!  Wow!

Now, as in the “60 Second Manager”, take one minute, 60 seconds, out of your incredibly hectic schedule and think about your hopes for this Pop Warner season.  Not the goals you’ve thought about and discussed for your spirit squad or football team, but what you’re looking for.

As a former high school football coach, youth baseball and basketball coach, and now administrator, what I hope for overall are safety and fun.  More than anything, children want to have fun while participating.  One of the metrics you can use is to see how many of your athletes participated last year and returned this year?  Will you provide them a positive experience so that they’ll look forward to coming back next year?

And safety almost goes without saying.  All of us at all levels in Pop Warner have both a duty and a moral responsibility to keep our athletes safe.  Accidents can certainly happen, but we all have that obligation to our youngsters.

So, think about your hopes and goals for the season.  Mine may be simpler, but you should keep them in mind, too.

Best wishes from all of us for a fun, safe, wonderful season!

Fun Reading for you and your son!  

With our academic emphasis in Pop Warner, we’re always looking for programs, methods, books to whet the interests of our scholar-athletes.  Here’s a great book for your young Pop Warner football player (ages 4-8), called “Family Huddle.”  It’s written by, and about, the first family of football, the Manning family.  Yes, it’s Archie, Peyton and Eli with the child’s-eye view of some of their family memories growing up in a football family.

Fun reading and looking at the illustrations with your little one, or starter reading if he’s a little older.  It’s a perfect match for your Pop Warner season! 
In 2009, the Mannings will serve as the first ever Scholastic Book Clubs’ ClassroomsCare Ambassadors of Reading, and Family Huddle will be published on September 8th by Scholastic.

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Date: June 23, 2009

The Impact of Fathers

According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, over 50% of the children in the United States in the Pop Warner age ranges are being raised in single parent households.  By far the majority of those single parent children are being raised by women.  With that in mind, and, since we’re right around Father’s Day on the calendar, it’s appropriate to reference the huge impact that fathers have on their children.  And that impact is often just as meaningful whether it’s a biological father or a psychological father figure.

There’s a wonderful organization I recommend called “All Pro Dad” (www.allprodad.com), which is an offshoot of Family First.  The National Spokesperson for All Pro Dad is Tony Dungy, former Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Before I’m accused of being sexist, Family First also has a companion program called “iMOM” at www.iMOM.com.  Both programs provide brief e-mails of advice five days a week, and they’re full of practical advice on how to be a good father or mother – not one placed on a pedestal, but good on a day-to-day real-world basis.

One of life’s unexpected realities is that babies don’t arrive with Owners Manuals.  To a large degree, all of us parents are improvising and doing our best, which means that all of us can use helpful tips and reminders.  For instance, I recently read a study that says the middle school-age children respond better by discussing their long-term goals than by helping them with their homework.

Other studies show that the single most effective thing that a parent/parents can do is to eat meals regularly with their child/children.  This simple, important action increases grades, raises self-esteem and reduces absenteeism.

Just as I believe that it’s more difficult being a child today than a generation ago, I also firmly believe that it’s more difficult being a good, caring, accountable parent today, but those parental qualities are more important than ever for our children and the children we work with in Pop Warner.

Whether they ever admit it or not, young people need guidance and discipline, and parents can certainly use helpful, useful advice.  Check out All Pro Dad and iMom to take advantage of their wonderful free services.

Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports

A concussion is a brain injury caused by a bump or blow to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. Even what seems to be a mild bump or blow to the head can be serious.

To help ensure the health and safety of young athletes, CDC developed the “Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports” initiative to offer information about concussions—a type of traumatic brain injury—to coaches, parents, and athletes involved in youth sports. The “Heads Up” initiative provides important information on preventing, recognizing, and responding to a concussion.

Read More about Concussions in Youth Sports from the CDC

Awards Dinner and Scholastics Update

We had a record crowd of just under 1,800 attendees at our Awards Dinner on May 23rd.  Even better, we had record donations and were therefore able to give $110,000 in college scholarships to our Academic All Americans!  Thanks and congratulations to all!

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Date: April 29, 2009

Pride in Pop Warner:

I’m extremely proud to be part of Pop Warner – a clearly recognized name, a historic program and an iconic brand.  You’re probably just as proud to be a part of Pop Warner, too!  Now we all have even more to be appreciate – increasing visibility of our Pop Warner name.

With our partners, we now have a variety of Pop Warner branded products.  Each of these items helps spread our name and make Pop Warner more perceptible in your community.

For more information on any Pop Warner specific programs, check out our web page at www.popwarner.com.

Lobbying Update:

In my note last month, I mentioned that we’ve been lobbying for a National Coaches Week.  To that end, Congressman Mike McIntyre (D-NC) and Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) are Co-Chairs of the Congressional Youth Sports Caucus, and they have introduced House Resolution 5.  We’ll keep you informed of its outcome.

Additionally, I mentioned working to pass the PHIT Bill which would allow employees to withhold up to $1,000 per year pre-tax to pay for youth sport registrations (including Pop Warner registration) and/or health club dues.  Congressman Kind (WI) will be introducing the Bill by the end of April or early May.

Scholastic Excellence:

Speaking of pride in Pop Warner, each year at this time we honor our Academic All Americans.  Our scholastic program is unique among national youth sports organizations, and all of us should be gratified at the classroom achievements of our young spirit leaders and football players.  They are truly an outstanding group of scholar athletes and deserve every bit of recognition we can collectively offer.

This year we will again award a number of scholarships to institutions of higher learning to the most exceptional Senior First Team All American Scholars.

A lesser known quote from Vince Lombardi describes these scholars very well:  "Some succeed because they are destined to.  Most succeed because they are determined to."

We congratulate all of our scholar-athletes and we look forward to seeing all of you at the 2009 Pop Warner Scholastic Banquet in a few weeks!

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Date: March 17, 2009

Interesting Times!

There’s an old saying from Ireland, I believe, that says, “May you live in interesting times.” 

With our recent Presidential election, the global economic crisis and extremely low confidence in corporate and government leadership, these certainly qualify as “interesting times.”

At our recent National Meeting, I told our Pop Warner Regional Management Team that now, more than ever before, all of us need to really step up as leaders.  No matter your level within Pop Warner, you need to focus on your leadership. 

One of Michael Josephson’s recent radio commentaries focused on leadership, and he references the following:

“William Cohen, Ph.D. and president of the Institute of Leader Arts, wrote an exceptional book a few years ago called The Stuff of Heroes that isolated eight universal laws of leadership. Here's his list:

1. Maintain absolute integrity.
2. Know your stuff.
3. Declare your expectations.
4. Show uncommon commitment.
5. Expect positive results.
6. Take care of your people.
7. Put duty before self.
8. Get out in front.

While it's important not to discount the importance of competency, communication, commitment, optimism, caring, courage, and duty embraced in laws 2-7, Dr. Cohen asserts that the most indispensable characteristic of a successful leader is integrity. “
I encourage each of us to regularly review Dr. Cohen’s laws of leadership and reflect on our own behavior in relationship to those laws.

Lobbying 101:

Several times each year, I get to focus on lobbying in Washington for proposals that would influence Pop Warner, youth sports in general, and children’s fitness issues.  About two weeks ago, I spent two days in Washington, one with a group of 12 current or former professional or elite athletes.  One of the proposals that we’re promoting is to create a National Coaches Week in early/mid-September.  Another Bill of particular interest is the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Bill, which, if enacted, would allow employees to withhold pre-tax dollars, like a Flexible Spending Account, to pay for youth sports registrations and health club memberships. 

With a new administration, and all the immediate needs of legislation for the economic stimulus, these Bills of interest to us are not a top priority, but there seems to be growing interest in passing them.  The scary fact is that right now slightly over one-third of all children in the US are classified as overweight or obese, which is a long-term concern for all of us. 

Interesting times for sure!