Date: July 20, 2009

Hundreds of thousands of kids participate in Pop Warner football, cheerleading and dance each fall, and many of these budding NFL football stars aspire to be the next Peyton Manning.

Now any Pop Warner football, cheer or dance group registered on Weplay.com, the online home for youth sports and Pop Warner’s official social networking community, will have a chance to actually meet one of the NFL’s all-time greatest quarterbacks. 

Weplay, Pop Warner and Peyton Manning are partnering to launch a season-long program dubbed “Peyton’s Picks” where Mr. Manning will select outstanding Pop Warner groups on Weplay.com.  The winning groups will be put into a pool of participants from which Mr. Manning and Weplay will select a winner to not only meet with, but also and practice with the 2008 NFL MVP during the 2010 NFL off season.

Beginning September 7 and running through November 20, Mr. Manning will scour the site to find the best Pop Warner groups.  Coaches and players simply need to sign up their teams on Weplay.com and create a group profile.  “Peyton’s Picks” are for those who have best utilized Weplay’s robust online clubhouse functionality including team management tools where coaches can get organized and share information with anyone on their roster.

Each week, the selected groups will be highlighted on Mr. Manning’s Weplay profile page and earn a “Peyton’s Picks” icon on their page.  At the end of the season, Mr. Manning will choose the best of all the Peyton’s Picks and make a special visit to that Pop Warner group in the offseason.  Mr. Manning will also choose five other lucky winners to receive $500 each for their groups.

Weplay.com is an online destination for youth sports and enables parents, coaches and kids to set up individual profiles, team pages and league sites.  The site empowers any one of the 160 million Americans involved in youth athletics to get better at the sports they love by watching the most comprehensive online library of youth-focused Skills and Drills videos where of players like Mr. Manning and others demonstrate how they have perfected their skills. 

Weplay’s community of parents and coaches are able to assist one another through the question and answer section, and coaches have a comprehensive suite of team management tools enabling them to communicate quickly with anyone on their rosters.

“Weplay is a great resource for Pop Warner, its teams, coaches and all of our participants,” said Jon Butler, Executive Director of Pop Warner.  “For players it’s a great way to stay connected to your teammates, coaches and even fans.  And for parents and coaches it’s a valuable resource for team management, especially features like the Skills and Drills library.  Weplay.com has allowed us to bring together the entire Pop Warner community in one fun and informative place.”

In addition to Mr. Manning, Weplay.com is supported by other professional athletes including LeBron James, Derek Jeter, Jennie Finch, Ryan Howard, and Summer Sanders, each of whom credit youth sports as a key factor in their success. Summer Sanders was also the 2009 Pop Warner Female Achievement Award Winner.

Steve Hansen, founder and chief executive officer of Weplay added “Peyton Manning is one of the most iconic athletes in the U.S., and approached Weplay with the idea of Peyton’s Picks so he could give back to the young Pop Warner players out there.  His love for youth sports is inspiring, and as a Pop Warner dad, I hope every other parent and coach associated with youth football takes advantage of this chance to meet one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL.”

About Weplay.com
Weplay.com (http://www.weplay.com) is the ultimate destination for the youth sports community. Its mission is to enable and enhance the joy of sports for kids, families, coaches and fans both online and on the field. On Weplay, parents, coaches and kids can set up team sites, create profiles, view comprehensive libraries of Skills and Drills, get answers to their questions and connect to the larger sports community. Weplay.com’s partners include CAA Sports, a division of Creative Artists Agency; Major League Baseball Advanced Media; FirstMark Capital; and iconic athletes Derek Jeter, LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Tony Parker, Shaun Alexander, Ryan Howard, Jennie Finch, Brandi Chastain, Summer Sanders and Sheryl Swoopes.

About Pop Warner
Founded in 1929 and headquartered in Langhorne, PA, Pop Warner Little Scholars is the largest national youth football and cheerleading organization in the United States and the only youth sports organization that emphasizes academics as an equivalent to athletics. 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.