Pop Warner Cheer:
Pop Warner Spirit teams participated for several decades on the football sidelines, but in the 1970's Cheerleading officially became integral part of the Pop Warner Program. Today, tens of thousands of youth participate in Pop Warner Cheerleading and Dance teams around the United States.
Teams participate on the sidelines at football games for our Home and most Away games, playoff games through to the Pop Warner Super Bowl. In addition to Game Days, our Cheer teams participate in qualifying spirit events (League and Region) through to a Pop Warner National Championship, which are held in December at the ESPN Complex in Orlando, Florida in early December.
Cheer offers teams a wide range of opportunity for young athletes at all skill levels: Novice, Intermediate and Advanced. Pop Warner has established National spirit rules with our Pop Warner Education Development Partner (JAMZ), and the Youth Cheer and Dance Alliance (YCADA). Together with YCADA, Pop Warner provides educational courses for its coaches, administrators and judges on team skill levels for Cheer Teams and for Dance Teams. Pop Warner also offers additional competition opportunities in Sideline Performance Cheer and Skill Games. With continued education, the Pop Warner Coaching Staff provides basic instruction, training and conditioning for both football games and competition.
Safety First & National Standards:
All Pop Warner Cheer follow Safety First! program -- a program which comprises the latest in safety initiatives that Cheerleading's governing bodies have implemented in the past years. With the introduction of these initiatives, cheer's serious injuries have been cut in half in the last decade, and cheer now has one of the lowest injury rates in women's sports.
Pop Warner has several required activities by Cheer teams to reduce cheerleader injuries at all levels, including.
* Proper Conditioning standards including flexibility, stamina, core muscle building and anaerobic development.
* Specialized training in spotting, and engagement at all times and required equipment (foamed mats) for tumbling and stunting
* Safety standardization for coaches, including cheer and certification in first aid and CPR
* Coach Safety guidelines followed by all national Pop Warner associations, and the development of Coaches online education training.
* Limitations on stunting, followed by coaches, organizations and judging panels to ensure safe practices
League & Regional Competitions and National Championship:
Another unique feature of Pop Warner Cheer also is in the Post-season, proving dedicated teams an opportunity to compete with other regional teams, and the possibility for a (typically once in a lifetime) experience to participate in National Championship Cheer competition in Orlando, Florida early December each year.