The current official logo of the Pop Warner Little Scholars.
Pop Warner Little Scholars (also known as Pop Warner, Pop Warner Football, and Junior Football Conference) is a non-profit organization that provides youth American football, cheerleading, and dance programs for participants in 43 U.S. states and several countries around the world. Consisting of approximately 400,000+ young people ranging from ages 5 to 16 years old, Pop Warner is the largest and oldest national youth football, cheer and dance organization in the United States. It is also the only youth sports organization with an academic requirement.
History
Pop Warner Little Scholars was founded in 1929 by Joseph J. Tomlin after noticing an increase of youth vandalism in the northeastern part of Philadelphia. Initially called Junior Football Conference, the organization was renamed Pop Warner Conference after American football coach, Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner joined the organization. By 1938, the Pop Warner Conference had 157 teams which represents neighborhoods in big cities and towns with most of the players were at least 15 years old and a few were over 30. Competitions were determined by top weights only, except for the youngest kids. When World War II arrived, the Pop Warner Conference lost most of their older players and only 42 teams remained. The organization had over 100 teams after the war.
In 1959, Pop Warner Conference became a non-profit organization and was renamed to Pop Warner Little Scholars. The popularity of Pop Warner football led to a Walt Disney produced two-hour television show called, "Moochie of Pop Warner Football" on ABC in 1960. By the 1960s, the organization had over 3,000 teams.
In the 1970s, Pop Warner expanded into a cheerleading program for girls. In 1983, a flag football program was offered. As of 2005, Pop Warner Little Scholars has over 150,000 5-16 year old boys and girls participating in their programs in the United States. In addition, they have teams in Canada, Mexico and Japan making the estimated current total over 5,000 Pop Warner football teams. Pop Warner has nine different age/weight ranges:
| Division |
Age requirements |
Weight requirements |
| Tiny-Mite |
5, 6, 7 |
35-75 lbs |
| Mitey-Mite |
7, 8, 9 |
45-90 lbs |
| Junior Peewee |
8, 9, 10, (11) |
60-105 lbs (60-85) |
| Peewee |
9, 10, 11, (12) |
75-120 lbs (75-100) |
| Junior Midget |
10, 11, 12, (13) |
85-135 lbs (85-115) |
| Midget |
11, 12, 13, 14, (15) |
105-160 lbs (105-140) |
| Junior Bantam |
12, 13, 14, (15) |
120-170 lbs (120-150) |
| Unlimited |
12, 13, 14, 15 |
170+ lbs |
| Bantam |
13, 14, 15, (16) |
135-185 lbs (135-165) |
The ages in (parenthesis) in each division allow the so-called "older but lighter" player to also qualify. The last year of eligibility falls under more stringent weight restrictions, per above.
Every December, Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex hosts the Pop Warner football National Championship (referred to as the Pop Warner Super Bowl). Teams are divided into A,B,and C divisions. 64 football teams compete for the National Championship in 4 different age/weight ranges (Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Midget & Midget).
In 1995 there were 21 teams in Florida, but Pop Warner said there were too much, so these 9 teams, were banned from Pop Warner, but Dorwood Roquemore, a former UFL player, decided to make these teams part of a league called FFL, The Floridian football league. These teams are Pahokee Tigers, Lake Mary Kings, Orange County Lions, Lake County Fire, Tallahassee Indians, Okeechobee Cardinals, Tampa Bay Raiders, Miami Mountaineers. (Note: There were also 12 other teams in this league before the 9 teams listed above came)
Midget 1988 Elgin Division I National champions
- 1987 Oak Grove(CA) Roughriders
- 1988 Elgin (IL) Steelers
- 1989 Alachua (FL) Raiders
- 1990 Danbury (CT) Trojans
- 1991 Northwood (MD) Rams
- 1992 Bolingbrook (IL) Trojans
- 1993 Oak Grove (CA) Roughriders
- 1994 Bolingbrook (IL) Trojans
- 1995 Elgin (IL) Steelers
- 1996 Elgin (IL) Steelers
- 1997 Oak Grove (CA) Roughriders
- 1998 Naples (FL) Gators
- 1999 Cypress Lake (FL) Hornets
- 2000 Suniland (FL) Sundevils
- 2001 Northwood (MD) Rams
- 2002 Northwood (MD) Rams
- 2003 Dale City (VA) Cowboys
- 2004 White Oak (MD) Warriors
- 2005 Oak Grove (CA) Eagles
- 2006 Marshall Heights (DC)
- 2007 Lakeshore (FL) Raiders
- 2008 Frankford (PA) Chargers
External links
http://levae.com/special_rpts/display_one_report.cfm?AreaID=8 -- Pop Warner Football Rankings
2009 Old Bridge (NJ) Rams
