Pop Warner Facts
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Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. (PWLS) is a non-profit organization that provides youth football and cheer programs for participants in 41 states and several countries around the world. Consisting of approximately 360,000 young people ranging from ages 5 to 16 years old, PWLS is the largest youth football, cheer and dance program in the United States. PWLS, founded in 1929, continues to grow and serves as the only youth football, cheerleading & dance organization that requires its participants to maintain academic standards in order to participate. Pop Warner's commitment to academics is what separates the program from other youth sports around the world. As the only national youth sports organization that requires scholastic aptitude to participate, Pop Warner is committed to developing America's young people on the field and off. Each year Pop Warner continues to expand its efforts in team and activity participation, as well as visibility and outreach in the community.
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Pop Warner Mission
The mission of Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. is to enable children to benefit from participation in team sports and activities in a safe and structured environment. Through this active participation, Pop Warner programs teach fundamental values, skills and knowledge that children will use throughout their lives
Objectives
- To encourage and increase youth participation in football.
- To ensure a safe and positive playing environment for all participants.
- To instill life-long values of teamwork, dedication and a superior work ethic in the classroom and on the playing field.
Positive Experiences
- Pop Warner programs have no tryouts or cutting of rosters.
- Everyone participates under mandatory rules of play.
- On-field coaching is allowed for younger age levels.
- Individual awards are given only for academic excellence, not for on-field activities.
Safe Playing Environment
- Players are matched by age and weight levels.
- There are strict mandatory equipment requirements.
- Pop Warner provides Coaching Clinics and Risk Management Training.
- An enforced national rule book incorporates time-tested rules.
- A full-time executive staff supports all local associations and assists in sound policy creation.
- Football Safety Facts
- In Pop Warner Football, there is "an absence of catastrophic head and neck injuries and disruptive joint injuries found at higher levels." (1)
- The injury rate in Pop Warner Football is:
- less than one-third the injury rate in high school football
- less than one-fifth the injury rate in college football
- less than one-ninth the injury rate in professional football
- Pop Warner's age-weight schematic protects younger, lighter players, who do not have higher injury rates.
- Organized football among 5 - 15 year-olds has 12 percent fewer injuries per capita than organized soccer in the same age range. (2)
- Organized football among 5 - 15 year-olds has 50 percent fewer injuries per capita than bicycle riding in the same age range. (3)
- Organized football among 5 - 15 year-olds has 74 percent fewer injuries per capita than skateboarding in the same age group. (4)
- Injuries in youth football are normally mild, and older players have a higher injury rate than younger players. (5)
REFERENCES
(1) �Injuries in Youth Football�, Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma, Lenox Hill Hospital, published in Pediatrics Magazine
(2) U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, NEISS
(3) Ibid
(4) Ibid
(5) "Injuries in Youth Football: A Prospective Observational Cohort Analysis Among Players Aged 9 to 13 Years", Mayo Clin Proc. 2002; 77:317-322 (April 2002, Vol 77)