YEAR-ROUND CHEERLEADING SQUADS

Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. has two types of spirit squads as follows:

Traditional (August 1ST to December 31ST) and Year-Round (January 1st to July 31st).

1. In this ninth year of the Year-Round program, August 1, 2009, the following will take place:

a) All Traditional and Year-Round squads will follow the same procedures and calendar as the Traditional program for registration, insurance and roster submission. (i.e., Traditional rosters are due on the first Monday in October, Year-Round Rosters are due by February 1.)

i) A Traditional squad continuing on to the Year Round Program must have participated in the Pop Warner League, Region and National Traditional Spirit Championships in order to be approved for the Year Round Season.

ii) Year Round coaching staff must follow cheer/dance staff requirements listed under Traditional season guidelines (i.e., The Head Coach must participate in a valid Pop Warner endorsed, Spirit Coaches’ Education Training Program).

iii) The Year Round Squad Declaration Form must be approved in the same manner as the Traditional season under the guidance of the League and Region Cheer Coordinators upon certification of the Year Round Squad Roster.

b) Year-Round squads are only rostered from 1/1 to 7/31 of each year. There will be no Year-Round squads during the Traditional Pop Warner season.

c) Year-Round Participants must have participated in the traditional season (8/1 to 12/31) in order to participate in the Year Round program in the Junior Peewee, Peewee, Junior Midget and Midget Divisions.  Note: Tiny Mite and Mitey Mite participants (from 8/1 to 12/31) are not permitted to roster in the Year Round Program (from 1/1 to 7/31).  Exception to c):  If a Year Round participant did not cheer or dance in the previous Traditional season with Pop Warner, and during that same time period the child did not cheer on a High School or All-Star Cheer/Dance Team, then the child will be eligible to participate after being certified through his or her local League per Part III, Article 10: Certification S4: prior to that team submitting a Year-Round roster to Regional and National.  (see paragraph b above.)  In addition, any new participants will need to go through the conditioning period as described in the Rules Book under Practice/Conditioning.

d) A Year-Round squad must compete in one competition during the Year Round season, January 1 to July 31. Only those squads that are rostered as Year-Round will be permitted to compete in competitions from 1/1 to 7/31. All Year-Round Spirit squads must follow the rules and guidelines in the Official PWLS Rulebook.   All non-Pop Warner competitions must adhere to the same guidelines and age groups as Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc.

i. The squad that is competing must submit a copy of the competition guidelines (non-Pop Warner) to the League Cheer Coordinator for review and approval by the Region Cheer & Dance Coordinator.

ii. All Year-Round Squads must register and identify themselves as a Pop Warner Squad in all non-Pop Warner competitions/events. We also require that each squad member wear the official Pop Warner patch for the competition/event.

iii. The PWLS Squad must compete in a Youth/Recreation or similar division in a non-Pop Warner competition.

e) All Year participants must return to their respective association spirit squads on 8/1 immediately following the Year-Round season.

2. The PWLS Spirit Championships in 2009 will consist of Traditional Spirit Divisions only. There will not be a Year-Round division in the Pop Warner National Championships in December.

CHEER AND DANCE AGE DIVISIONS:

The ages of all spirit participants in the program shall correspond to the overall ages that the League is permitting for players, unless League rules dictate that the ages of the spirit squad shall correspond to the playing ages of the squad with which they are associated.

The participant's age on July 31st of the current year shall be the participant's age for the coming season.

Please contact us in writing with any safety clarifications/questions at spirit@popwarner.com