Our program is affiliated with the Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. (PWLS) which is a non-profit national organization that provides youth football, cheer, and dance programs for young people ranging from ages 5 to 12 years old.
The Pop Warner program's philosophy is that athletics and scholastics go hand in hand. At every level, Pop Warner programs seek to develop well-rounded young men and women who learn not only the fundamentals of football, cheerleading, and dance but also the importance of education in an atmosphere conducive to developing sound character, while having a good time.
Our goal is to have fun while creating winners of today and leaders of tomorrow.
POP WARNER
Pop Warner football has been around since the inception of the league in 1929 by founder Joseph J. Tomlin as a four-team conference in Northeast Philadelphia. Since then, participation has steadily increased to today's record numbers. Over 250,000 youths participated in Pop Warner-sanctioned football programs in 2010, and those numbers are continuing to grow.
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)
Why There Are 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.
General Information for Swansboro Pop Warner
Practice
Practices begin as early as August 1 Pop Warner requires that players attend ALL practices in August. It is proven that this will ensure each player's safety and development in the succeeding weeks. Pop Warner mandates a given number of hours for conditioning and practice before players can put on their pads or participate in a game or scrimmage.
To meet the minimum requirement we practice four times a week - Monday through Thursday in August - and once school starts we practice three times per week for two hours. Each practice is up to 2.5 hours long. Each player is expected to attend ALL practices unless they are ill or have a required school event. It is difficult for players missing any of these practices to "catch up" to the rest of the team in terms of development and understanding. It also places an unnecessary burden on the coaching volunteers and takes away training and development time from the players that did attend. After Labor Day, actual weekly practice time will drop from 10 hours per week to 6 hours per week max. (Week is defined as Mon - Sun), and the max. drops to 2 hrs practice each day (break time does not count against each practice) - Pop Warner rules.
Where possible we recommend scheduling camps and trips for June and July so as not to conflict with the start of Pop Warner practices. However, we understand that many families have August commitments. Kids will have the chance to make up lost time in August and still enjoy a great season.
Regular Season
Regular season games are played on Saturdays with the season typically beginning the first weekend in September, Labor Day weekend, and running through the end of October. Playoffs for Junior Pee Wee and Pee Wee will begin the following week for those teams that qualify and can potentially run through the first week in December (National Championships in Orlando, FL).
Game Locations
Games usually take place on Saturdays. When the season begins, we will play our home games at Swansboro Middle School and away games on fields throughout the local area. Game times and locations are assigned by the Eastern Pop Warner. The schedule usually comes out just before the first game is to be played and is often changed during the season. Swansboro Pop Warner has no control over the schedule - we encourage our teams to be flexible.
Practice Locations
Swansboro High School.
Equipment and Costs
All players will be given have a helmet, shoulder pads, football pants, a practice jersey, and a mouth guard. Parents need to provide a pair of cletes and a extra morth gaurd.
Refund Policy
Full refund before the season starts. No refunds after that, except for extenuating circumstances that are voted on by the board.
Age - A child's age on July 31st is his/her age for the season.
Weight - Players will be weighed in at registration in the spring and again at the team meeting. If a player four or more pounds over the weight limit for their division at the weigh-in, they will move up to the next division and be placed on another team.
Tiny Mite
The Tiny Mite division introduces youngsters to the incredible game of football. Players will be in full pads and taught the basic rules, fundamentals, and skills needed to enjoy the game of football. Teamwork and positive coaching will create the foundation so that these young players and their families will be able to enjoy this great game for years to come.
This young division is popping up all over the country and the Pirates are excited about getting these little ones out on the field. This division is a great way for parents to get involved with a great program and spend quality time with their children.
Rules for Tiny Mite Football include:
No Scoreboard – Games are played for fun and learning, not for the win or loss
play is on a shortened 80 yard field
teams will play two 25 minute halves (running clock) with a 10 minute half time
teams field full 11-man squads
there are no special teams (punts, kickoffs, etc.)
8 game schedule concluding with a potential Bowl Game
Our goals for the Tiny Mite division include:
Learning
basic offensive and defensive terms and schemes
proper footwork skills (passing, running, blocking, etc.)
proper blocking techniques
proper tackling technique to prevent injury
As well as
gaining agility and overall athleticism
experiencing what makes football so great…Being part of the team
gaining friendships with other players
Cheer-
Our organization expects mutual cooperation, your time, and courtesy. If you’re new to cheer,or to Pop Warner, we recommend you review the following to understand what you’re getting into. You’re getting into a great program, but one that requires a lot of time, energy, and commitment — and it only works when we work together, so please read on. . .
The first weeks of cheer are comprised of conditioning. CFF & Pop Warner rules require that each member of a cheer squad record twenty (20) hours of conditioning time before being able to cheer. Participants who miss practice will not be allowed to participate in any cheerleading activities until the twenty (20) hours of conditioning is attained.
During the first 2-3 weeks, cheer participants will likely practice 4-5 days a week. Typical practice time is anywhere from 6:00 PM until 8:00PM.
Throughout the regular season, practices are scheduled by the squad’s coach and may vary from two (2) to three (3) days per week.
Cheer can be strenuous. Please encourage your child to stretch and practice the routines often. Coaches may suggest level changes for a participant, and our goal is to correct and encourage proper form for safety.
Cheer is an active sport. Keeping our organization running is a team effort. We will expect a lot of your time, support, and resources. The first three weeks are filled with many hours on and off the field for all of us. We will ask you for forms and absolute accuracy on items you may not think are important, but they are. You will be called-upon to volunteer your time and raise funds. Our volunteer leaders are committed to you, and we ask the same commitment in return.
And, while it may seem to go without saying, expect to be asked to follow the rules and act with courtesy towards your fellow Pirate families, coaches, and volunteers, as well as toward our visitors and opponents. Understand that we have a zero tolerance policy for actions that jeopardize the safety of any individual or our ability to provide a positive environment for pirate football and cheerleading in our community.
If you have a concern, we require you to follow the chain of command. Start with your coach. Complaints, concerns, or issues brought to commissioners or board members that were not addressed with the coach first will be returned to the coach for attention. Of course, we accept compliments and offers for help at any time, at any level of authority.
If they advance, competitive cheer squads are required to participate in local, regional, and the much sought-after National Championship in Disney World (Florida). For the squads that qualify, this championship occurs in early to mid-December. If a competitive cheer squad places in the top two at Regionals, the rostered members are required to travel to Nationals. All rostered cheer team members are required to travel, unless otherwise stated at the time of registration.
A cheer squad that cheers for a football team that makes it to the National Championship in Disney is also required to travel with its respective football team, regardless of the cheer squad's qualification for cheer competition in Disney. Again, the fundraising and post-season travel policy apply. All rostered cheer team members are required to perform unless otherwise stated at the time of registration.