Football and Cheerleading Aren't Just Child's Play for Pop Warner Athletes

Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., is a national non-profit serving youth from ages 5-16 by teaching the sports of football and cheerleading. In addition to developing athletic skills, participants learn about the importance of team work, education and good character. PWLS has teams comprised of Brookline and Jamaica Plain youth, the Brookline-Jamaica Plain Patriots.

Jamaica Plain Patch spoke with the Brookline-Jamaica Plain Patriots’ Interim President Thomasina Cole about the value of the league and its impact in the community.

Tell us about the history of Pop Warner’s Brookline-Jamaica Plain Patriots.
Pop Warner is a national program, our team here is geared toward children 7-15. It teaches kids the sports of football and cheerleading. It teaches them about healthy competition, goal setting, and there’s also a scholastic component. Kids have to have a certain GPA, and if they don’t, plans are put into place to get them there. We work with their school so that they can participate. They also get national level recognition for having GPAs over the required standard. The Brookline-JP Patriots have been here since at least 2003, teaching kids life skills. They learn how to conduct themselves in a team atmosphere, how to communicate with others, how to express themselves. It also teaches them about self-esteem since the program doesn’t elevate one child above another. All children are celebrated for the team effort.

Why did you decide to serve the Jamaica Plain community?
The way the organization works is that we go into geographic areas where there is need, lots of children are interested, but a lot of times they don’t have outlets because schools may not offer it. We attract all those children in communities that may not have the resources, although children can also come from outside the community. It was created to give these children a place to go to learn the sports that they love and are excited about, like football and cheerleading. We give them a safe way to learn and give parents peace of mind knowing that their kids are safe and treated well.

Why do you promote the sports of football and cheerleading?
They are physical activities and a lot of kids are sitting at home in front of the TV and lack physical activity. These are sports that engage children. They get quite a bit of exercise, they go to practice four times a week, Monday through Thursday, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. It helps them socially by making a lot of new friends, they are able to interact with other children with whom they wouldn’t have a chance to interact with outside the program.

Where do you play?
We play at the in Brookline, near Jamaica Pond. We have eight regular games, four at the Downes Field, and we typically field six teams. They are on Sundays at 9 a.m. and open to the community, everyone is encouraged to come and support. But for us it’s about more than winning. It is about the happiness of the children, the response that we get from the parents, the hugs from the children and them saying they can’t wait for next year, that’s what it’s about. It’s all about the children in the program and making sure they have a wonderful experience even if they don’t win a single game.

When does the season start?
The season starts Aug. 1. As of Aug. 1 we will be on the field practicing. They start playing the Sunday after Labor Day, so from September to the end of October. Then it’s the playoffs, from there they can go down to play for the national championship in Orlando. The cheerleaders are cheering at all football games and have competitions in October, then they can go to state and regional competitions, and if they qualify, they can also go down to Florida for the national competition.

How do the Brookline-Jamaica Plain Patriots interact with other non-profits in the area?
In some instances some organizations send children to us. Children's advocacy programs that may have children that need physical activity, they may contact us and send them to us.

How do the Brookline-Jamaica Plain Patriots benefit the community?
We have about 250 children in our field every season, children that have been given a place to go without worry of getting in trouble. They are on the field 10-14 hours a week. For parents that worry terribly about their children, when they enroll in our program they know their kids are learning and having fun. Once children become involved so do their parents. It’s a program run by volunteers, without them we wouldn’t exist. Volunteers help with uniforms, distributing or washing them, or become coaches.

How can the community become involved?
They can contact me at 215-421-5772 or by going to www.brooklinejppatriots.org where we have registration forms. They can register online or on-site Aug. 1. We do have registration fees, but we try to keep them as low as possible so that we are able to serve many kids. The fees include equipment use. There are instances where we offer scholarships for some students, thanks to other very generous families that will pay.

[Editor's note: The Boston Bengals also have several Pop Warner teams of various ages. They play their home games at English High School in JP. Registration is also underway for the Bengals.]