Tim Glase is the Chief Operating Officer for Pop Warner Little Scholars. Tim has played a key role in setting the vision and direction for Pop Warner. He's involved in all facets of the organization, including growth initiatives, event management and marketing. Prior to his involvement with Pop Warner, Tim gained experience across the greater industry, with roles in motorsports, minor league sports, pro cycling, sports media and sports resort development.
We recently chatted with Tim to learn more about him and his work with Pop Warner.
You’ve been able to bring a wide range of past experience to Pop Warner. Can you talk a little bit about that and how you’re applying your expertise to help grow the organization?
What I’ve really liked about my role with Pop Warner is that it allows me to make sense of my past experience. I’ve been fortunate to work in a lot of different areas of sports business – from sports media to motorsports to pro cycling to sports resort development. Over the years I had a broad range of responsibilities, built a decent skill set, and developed the ability to be quick and nimble. That mostly stems from different startup ventures and organizations that were in transition to a new phase. With Pop Warner, in a lot of ways I feel like I’ve been here before.
Prior to joining the Pop Warner staff two years ago you worked at Pop Warner’s marketing agency. How has that experience helped in your role now as COO?
I was focused on corporate partnerships in that position but my four years on the Pop Warner account gave me a chance to observe all facets of the organization before I joined the staff. When I was with the agency I stayed in the same resorts of our teams during nationals, so I enjoyed plenty of conversations with parents, coaches and volunteers. That provided so many insights.
With tens of thousands of people across the country there are so many voices in Pop Warner. How can you listen to all of them?
People want to be heard and deserve to be heard. Though we can’t accommodate every idea, it’s important for people to be heard, and know that their voice matters. Whether it is a parent, a coach, a volunteer, an official, an administrator or someone from our regional management team, hearing about their personal experience or concerns is important. We made a concerted effort to gather feedback from all levels through a series of surveys, establishing a Community Advisory Board, and examining how we compared to similar youth sports national governing bodies. Pop Warner covers lots of the country but I promise, we’re listening.
The feedback on the amount of paperwork in Pop Warner has given birth to a digital transformation. Where are we heading?
We understand the importance of embracing modern, digital solutions that will reduce paperwork for our volunteers and our parents. There’s a real need to make the work of Pop Warner less cumbersome. We must find ways to give volunteers some of their lives back. So, we’re leveraging some tools within our roster software that will allow parents and coaches to submit files and administrators to process files much more efficiently. It’s a process that will take time, but we’re moving in a good direction.
Beyond the digital effort, are there any other initiatives Pop Warner is focused on?
We’ve worked hard to improve the amount of communication from the national office, while also creating more recruiting materials for leagues, regions and associations. We’re also beginning to plan for 100th anniversary and are focusing on our structure as a national governing body. That ties into efforts to build upon our brand, strengthen our leadership position in the industry, and spur growth in numbers.
It all comes back to each sport – football and cheer & dance. How do you see Pop Warner going forward?
There’s great potential and growth for both football and cheer & dance. On the football side of things, we’re seeing a lot of buzz. We hired a new football commissioner who is a pure football guy. That’s led to some improvements in our rules, including building out our 7v7 non-contact and flag football rules. On the cheer & dance side, there’s a lot of great leadership across the board and we’ve seen consistent year-over-year growth. We’re working through new initiatives for each sport. Overall, I’m excited about what’s in store. The board is engaged, the national staff has been great, and the organization is supported by a group of tireless volunteer regional management team members who have been incredible assets to Pop Warner.
Have you ever participated in either football or cheer & dance?
We didn’t have a neighborhood team growing up, so my one year of football came on the freshman team in school ball. I played the Y position. I enjoyed it, had good coaches and the team aspect was great. Then I joined the track team and discovered I could run with the best in our district. With a mile time in the 4:30s, cross country became my fall sport.
In the years you’ve spent with Pop Warner, do you have a favorite memory or two that really stand out?
Seeing the sheer scale of Cheer & Dance Nationals for the first time. That’s a sport I didn’t have much familiarity with when I started. Pictures and stories don’t do it justice. Walking into the venue and absorbing the energy and excitement of the event, the athletes, coaches and parents definitely exceeded my expectations. I’ve experienced this with the regional events I attended as well. Earlier in my career I worked in the NASCAR industry, and the saying is, “if you want to understand the allure of the sport, you need to go to a race.” The same can apply here. A cheer & dance event is worth checking out.