Pop Warner Spirit teams have participated for several decades on the football sidelines (Pep Squads, Majorettes, etc.); however, cheerleading was not officially introduced until the 1970’s.
Today, thousands of youth participate in Pop Warner Cheerleading and Dance teams around the United States.
The Cheer and Dance Program offers teams a wide range of opportunity for young athletes at all skill levels: Novice, Intermediate and Advanced.
Pop Warner has established one set of spirit rules along with JAMZ, the Pop Warner Education Development Partner and the original developer of the Youth Cheer and Dance Alliance (YCADA).
Together with YCADA, Pop Warner is able to provide online educational courses for its coaches, administrators and judges on team skill levels for Cheer Teams (Core Cheer, Show Cheer PW 1-4) and for Dance Teams (Pom Performance, Theme Dance & Hip Hop). Pop Warner also offers additional competition opportunities in Sideline Performance Cheer.
With continued education, the Pop Warner Coaching Staff provides basic instruction, training and conditioning for both football games and competition.
Teams participate on the sidelines at football games for home and most away games through to the Pop Warner Super Bowl. In addition to Game Day, teams participate in qualifying spirit events (League and Region) through to a Pop Warner National Championship.
The Pop Warner National Cheer and Dance Championships (started in 1988) are now held in December located in ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida.
The Road to the National Championships
For a cheerleading or dance squad, the difficult road to the national championship is quite similar to that of the football teams’. A spirit squad will showcase their best (2:30) two minute and thirty second routine complete with music and cheering at a league championship level. The top squads advance to regional competition via regional qualifiers in each small, medium and large category, in four different categories.
At these competitions, a spirit squad will again perform their top (2:30) two-minute and thirty second routine in hopes of winning. The first and second place squads in the region in each small, medium and large category, Novice, Intermediate and Advanced are invited to perform at Disney’s Wide World of Sports™ in hopes of winning a national championship for their local association.
The participants in the Pop Warner program are unique as opposed to those of other programs. While they are taught about the values of competition, they are also maintaining their grades at a satisfactory level in order to attain the ultimate prize of being named a Pop Warner National Champion. We salute all the efforts and accomplishments that our participants put forward!