Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. (PWLS) is a nonprofit organization that provides youth football and cheer & dance programs for participants in 41 states and several countries around the world. Consisting of approximately 360,000 young people ranging from ages 5 to 14 years old, PWLS is the largest youth football, cheer and dance program in the United States.

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 5-14 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.