The current official logo of the Pop Warner Little Scholars.
Overview
Pop Warner Little Scholars (also known as Pop Warner, Pop Warner Conference, and Junior Football
Conference) is a non-profit organization that provides youth American football,
cheerleading & dance programs for participants in 41
U.S. states and several countries around the world. Consisting of approximately 360,000 young
people ranging from ages 5 to 16 years old, Pop Warner is the largest 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. It was first
called Junior Football Conference but later changed its named to 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 Mexico and
Japan making the estimated current total over 5,000 Pop Warner football teams.
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 Division I and
Division II. 64 football teams compete for the National Championship in 4 different age/weight ranges (Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr.
Midget & Midget).
External links
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