What is Pop Warner Football All About?

National: The age schematic is used nationally so teams from other regions are always matched against similar sized players. Pop Warner Little Scholar's national office sets division weights based upon the Center for Disease Control's age and weight charts.

A local note. The age and weight schematic is not intended to prevent  any child from playing, but rather to ensure fairness and safety. Players are placed into divisions that allow for their growth. For example, a child that is at the upper edge of a division can move to the next highest division to  ensure they fall within the specified weight range during the season, and therefore would never be in jeopardy of exceeding their division's weight.

Age: The age of the player is their age on July 31 of the playing season.  For example, if a player's birthday is after August 1 and they are 11 turning 12, their playing age for the season is 11. Depending on their weight and skill level they could play in one of three divisions.

Weight: All players are allowed an in season growth allowance of 9 pounds. So if they are a Junior Pee Wee player and weigh 105 pounds at the beginning of the season, they are allowed to gain 9 pounds during the season, one pound per week to a final weight of 114 pounds.

Weigh In: All weights listed above are without gear, weigh-ins are in gear and a weight allowance is subtracted for gear.

O/L Players: Older but lighter players are allowed. For example, if a player is 11 years old on or before July 31 and they are between 60 to 85 pounds, they would qualify as an older but lighter player in the Junior Pee Wee division. These players are also allowed an in season weight gain of 9 pounds.

Divisions:  All of the above divisions are open for registration. Participants will be placed in divisions by the league based on their age, weight and previous tackle football experience.  If a player's  desired division does not fill, they may be moved to the next highest or lowest division, depending on which one fits their age and weight. If a player does not want to move to a different division or can not move because of age/weight, a refund will be granted.

Benefits: No players have ball carry exemptions, all players are eligible for any position. Similar weights help keep children safe.

Safety First:  Kids compete with kids of similar age and size. Pop Warner is the ONLY youth football program (local, regional and national) that sets and enforces a strict AGE & WEIGHT MATRIX that reduces the risk and reality of injuries.

Did you know that Pop Warner football is safer than soccer? Pop Warner football has 12% fewer injuries per capita among 5-15 year olds than organized soccer in the same age range! (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, NEISS)

No Personal Statistics: Pop Warner exists to use football, cheerleading, dance and a respect for education to develop strong, smart, responsible, healthy young men and women. We give them experiences that build their appreciation for and understanding of leadership, teamwork, and discipline.

While individual statistics may be more common, particularly among older football players, Pop Warner only recognizes the athletic accomplishments of the team, not the individual. We don't track personal tallies of touchdowns or yards rushing per game. We don't count sacks or blocked kicks. We applaud the athletic efforts of the team to reinforce the importance of teamwork, with each member.

We don't try to build stars. We don't want to over-inflate a young ego, nor do we want to risk injuring the self-esteem of a young person. Whether our kids have good days or bad, they are still an integral part of our team…and always will be