As we get closer to the start of another season – our 94th – I find myself thinking of our student athletes and what they must be feeling this time of year. Maybe some butterflies. Excitement. Probably an occasional moment of frustration as their friends head off to the lake or the pool and they head off to practice.

But they’re in it together. Cheerleaders and football players. Thousands of them. Different sports but united in so many ways.

Which also makes me think about the Pop Warner experience, specifically the Game Day Experience. There is nothing like a community coming together around a sporting event.

We see it on Friday nights at the high school fields, Saturdays in college stadiums or played out in movies and TV shows. Community of friends and family and strangers taking their place in the stands or along the perimeter of the field. Players in a huddle, cheerleaders on the sidelines getting everyone pumped up. We hear it with the choreographed cheers, the PA announcer calling the highlights, the music blasting from the speakers, the whistle of the refs and parents cheering on their athletes. This is where football and cheerleading can come together to showcase what makes Pop Warner special.

Frankly, we see this spirit and unified game day experience in some associations more than others. While cheerleaders are prominent throughout the game with some teams, many others refuse to let them on the sidelines. For those who neglect to bring both sides of our family – cheer and football – together they’re missing out. And they’re doing a disservice to the kids, families and their own programs.

So let’s make 2022 the year we elevate the experience for our athletes across football and cheer, and for our families.

To help promote that we’re doing something special. We’re going to hold a year-long campaign to promote the Pop Warner Little Scholars Game Day Experience. You’ll be asked to post photos of your football and cheer teams together on game day, each doing what they love during the game. We will highlight a number of them throughout the course of the season and at the end of the year we will announce winners in each region. Those teams will receive some cool prizes. Please stay tuned for more details.

This is a special time of year and, more to the point, a special time in the lives of all our kids. Let’s celebrate that. 

Best of luck as you prepare for the season.

Jon Butler