Within the Pop Warner family, there are so many inspiring stories that go beyond just football and cheer & dance. Community is at the heart of what Pop Warner stands for, offering young people a chance to grow in a supportive environment that provides character development on and off the field. Pop Warner’s reach often stretches beyond the field, with our teams making a real difference in their communities—doing everything from organizing park cleanups to raising money for local causes.
The Community Star Award is all about celebrating these amazing efforts, recognizing the teams that show true dedication to service and making an impact. In each of the last two seasons, the award highlighted some incredible stories from teams that got creative and worked together to bring about positive change. And this season is no different.
While we’ll recognize one award winner during national championship week in Charlotte, each of this year’s nominees have stories that inspire us.
Oceanside Pop Warner
Oceanside Pop Warner is positively impacting the community by merging youth sports with service. The team hosted several charitable drives and fundraisers, from clothing drives to bake sales to school supply collections. Some of these efforts also led to being able to sponsor over 20 economically challenged families, ensuring every child had access to gear and participation.
Oceanside teams developed mentoring and tutoring programs with area schools and also performed for and interacted with those in community senior centers. Their engagement with community also included environmentally conscious initiatives, including regular beach cleanup days. The group also team came together to support two big community events – the Rock and Roll Marathan and the Oceanside Ironman to support hydration stations, athlete check-ins, gear distribution, and post-race cleanup.
Parkside Saints
The Parkside Saints have put a focus on discipline, mentorship, and community impact to help each child thrive on and off the field. This season, they launched Rides with the Squad, encouraging bonding and health through group bike rides. Players also organized Brotherhood Bonding Sleepovers, fostering friendships and leadership – while coaches supervised, players led developing leadership, collaboration, and respect for one another in the process.
The group hosted a Back-to-School BBQ and Resource Drive as a fun event to engage the community and collect school supplies. Hydration Parties during games promoted health and wellness by making available sufficient amount of products to keep the teams well hydrated. Additionally, they connected with seniors in the community by delivering donuts to help bridge intergenerational gaps and to teach players kindness and service.
Jacksonville Beach
Jacksonville Beach Pop Warner has been focused on community service by completing one project each month. They started in March with a food drive for The Sulzbacher Center, a local homeless shelter. In April, they celebrated Earth Day by planting flowers. In May, the team cleaned Jacksonville Beach, made cards for residents in assisted living centers, and hosted a social event for a 12-Step group. They raised $500 for Sulzbacher’s fitness challenge in June and donated classroom supplies and items for animals in shelters during the summer.
As the year ends, there are plans for a Thanksgiving food drive, as well as a toy drive for children during the Holiday season. One of the goals: showing that small teams can make a big impact when united by purpose and heart.
Windham Pop Warner
In New Hampshire, the Windham Pop Warner cheer group participate in a Kids in Service program to engage with seniors at nursing homes. The team has also participated in a Halloween costume donation drive to support Salem NH Family Resources. The team took part in a Styles & Smiles breast cancer awareness and fashion show. Also, there were Lemonade Stands to raise money for F2FC Fight to Fight Cancer organization and Windham Helping Hands organization, as well as food donations to local police station and fire department. And the team sold gear to support a breast cancer organization and the One Mission organization.
Around the Country
There are so many great stories shared every year. We try to highlight as many as we can to recognize all the good work Pop Warner teams do, and to inspire others with ideas they can implement in their own communities.
Astronaut Youth Sports Association organized a day kids won’t forget, in honor a teammate they’ll remember forever. “Addi Day” honored the memory of a teammate who passed away too soon due to DIPG, an aggressive childhood brain tumor. In addition to remembering Addi, the team raised awareness and funds for DIPG.
Cape Youth cheerleaders lined the red carpet to provide a joyous welcome to Tim Tebow’s Night to Shine, a beautiful event that celebrates people with special needs and reminds everyone that they are loved, valued, and extraordinary.
The Crystal River Buccaneers, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, provided over 1,000 meals to those in need and assisted with cleanup efforts throughout the community.
The Dunnellon Tigers 12U team rallied behind a team dad that was diagnosed with Grade 3 Astrocytoma, a form of aggressive brain cancer. The team participated in a community fundraiser, and during games this season the players wore grey bands on their cleats while all coaches and board members wore grey shirts.
The East Bay Warriors partnered with the Rhode Island Veterans Home – the younger teams contributed by making personalized thank you cards for residents while the older teams were able to visit and spend time with our local Veterans.
The Eastern Arizona Wildcats 12U team partnered with Feed My Starving Children to make 157 boxes that contained 33,912 meals – that feeds 92 kids a daily meal for a year.
The FishHawk Wolfpack cheerleaders helped beautify the Girls With Confidence farm in Lithia, FL, through painting, weeding, and repairing enclosures, as well as donating food to feed the animals. The team also organized supply drives for local schools and assisted in efforts to feed the homeless and hungry.
Hagerty Pop Warner led a back-to-school bookbag drive to donate over 20+ bags filled with school supplies, and volunteers at a local homeless shelter multiple times to feed the homeless.
The Hartford Hurricanes stressed mentorship throughout the entire organization, creating opportunities for kids to look up to older kids while also setting an example for younger athletes.
The Lacy Revolution partnered with local Cub Scouts to participate in in a Scouting for Food Drive to collect food donations from their local community members to then donate to their local food bank.
The Los Alamitos Griffins teamed up with over 50 teams at the Pop Warner, high school and college levels on a bow drive to distribute bows at Children's Hospital of Orange County and Miller Children’s Hospital.
New Britain Jr. Canes organized a cleanup day to spruce up the parks in our community and hosted two back-to-school events to donate schools supplies to all age groups. The team also participated in Breast Cancer walks and Autism walks.
The North Brunswick Indians hosted the Feed the Community Initiative, which provided meals and support to local families in need to reinforce the values of service and compassion. The group also organized a breast cancer awareness event and Community Cleanup and Fun Day.
The Odell Eagles collected items to make Birthday-In-A-Box kits, complete with cake, icing, candles and sprinkles, to provide to food pantries for individuals who may not have anyone to spend their birthday with.
It’s now the Quakertown Football & Cheerleading Association for a good reason. With the cheer program growing three-fold in recent years, the program embraced a move that would increase recognition and engagement with the community. As a result, the Quakertown Midget Football Association is now known as the Quakertown Football & Cheerleading Association. Every athlete is recognized – sometimes community starts at home.
The SWGA Wolverines organized food drives to provide meals for families in need and participated in neighborhood cleanups and service days.
Warminster Pioneers Football and Cheerleading partnered with Pass the Play Foundation to help collect used sports equipment to distribute to children in need.
A Yorba Linda Pop Warner cheer team hosts a team dinner for Thanksgiving and spends the night packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. The team also makes homemade holiday cards for seniors every year. Also, when they raise more funds than they needed in a recent fundraiser, they donated the surplus to Hope the Mission and for Palisades fire recovery relief.
Thank you!
We’re inspired by all the nominations and stories that we received, and grateful to our Pop Warner teams for the work they do in their communities.