How do I Find my Local Pop Warner Program?

To locate a Pop Warner program in your area, you can use the national League Finder at www.popwarner.com.  TPPW follows the physical boundary of the Torrey Pines High School attendance boundaries, which shall include the boundaries of the Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Rancho Santa Fe school districts, with the exception of the area north of Escondido Creek in the Rancho Santa Fe School District. TPPW also includes students within the 4S ranch boundary.  Participants with a residence in these areas or attending a school in these areas are considered in-boundary participants. Participants outside these boundaries are encouraged to sign up with their home association. TPPW participants from outside TPPW's boundary must obtain a waiver from their home Pop Warner association to play within TPPW.

How do I Sign Up to play?

To sign up for Torrey Pines Pop Warner Football, click here.  Currently we don’t have a Cheer program, if you are interested in leading the cheer program, please contact info@torreypinespopwarner.com 
 

How much does it cost to play?

Registrations costs vary from program to program and are determined by each individual Pop Warner member association.  Compared to most recreational sports there is significantly more participation time and equipment provided to the participant.  Tackle football athletes and cheerleaders are supervised in TPPW programs for almost 700 hours of practice and game time during a regular season.  Registration fees for football help cover the cost of uniforms (game/practice jerseys, pants, helmets, shoulder pads), fields, referees, conference fees, equipment storage costs, registration shirts, team equipment, annual helmet certification, team pictures and other expenses.  TPPW registration fee is $695.00 per participant

 

Why do we have to do additional fundraising?

Every coach and board member in TPPW is a volunteer. Without the additional fundraising efforts, we would lose money on each participant who signs up for TPPW.  TPPW is creating a program that can run into perpetuity, so it is important to have a healthy balance in case unexpected situations arise or we need the funds to support a player.

 

What are the Divisions of Play?

For football teams, leagues have options with how to structure their program. While leagues can continue the current structure where a player is placed in a division based on his or her age and weight, they may also instead choose to register players based on age only. 

 

TPPW has 4 competitive divisions in the unlimited weight age-based brackets, 8U, 10U, 12U and 14U.  The number of Head Coaches and Participants determine the number of teams we have in each age bracket.

 

What age/weight group will my child play in?

Refer to the current Football Age/Weight matrix or the Cheer and Dance Age Matrix in the forms section to determine which division(s) a participant qualifies for in Pop Warner. Generally, most youth qualify for more than Division. However, TPPW and Pop Warner strongly recommend playing at the lowest possible Division for the player's projected age/weight on August 1.

 

What are the academic requirements for participation?

Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. (PWLS) is the only national youth sports organization in America that requires its participants to perform adequately in the classroom before permitting them to play. We believe that the standards we have set give these children a sense of responsibility and an appreciation for academics and athletics that will help them develop later in life.

Proof of satisfactory progress in school is required. A 2.0/70% or the equivalent shall be the minimum grade point average acceptable to participate. Those who do not meet this requirement, or home-schooled students can still play if they follow the alternative eligibility process which is monitored by progress reports.

Are Tryouts Allowed in Pop Warner?

NO TRYOUTS! – Pop Warner programs are not permitted to hold tryouts or cutting of rosters.

In TPPW and all organizations following the National Pop Warner charter, a registered participant is assured a slot on a team. For age/weight levels where more than one team exists, TPPW reserves the right to place participants with others of similar skills. Wait-listed participants performance will not be released to prospective coaches unless a currently registered member withdraws from participation by their own choice or actions (i.e., not paying, academically ineligible, etc.).

 

Can I request my child play on a specific team, for a coach, or with a friend/carpool buddy? 

No. The only requests automatically granted are for siblings on the same team (if age/weight-level appropriate). All other requests must be approved by the Player Agent and the TPPW Board of Directors. Only in rare and exceptional cases will requests be granted.

 

 

What is the time commitment during the season? 

From Aug. 1 to Labor Day tackle football teams generally practice every weekday, although a Saturday scrimmage may substitute for a practice. After Labor Day, teams practice 3 days per week and play games on Saturdays.​

 

When does the Pop Warner season begin and end? When are schedules published? 

Pop Warner season begins Aug. 1 for tackle football, flag football, and for cheerleading. Each group concludes on different dates. The first competition for tackle football and cheerleading is the last Saturday in August. First games for flag football and flag cheerleading are first Saturday of September. Game schedules are set by West Coast Conference and usually are not published until mid-August. After October games are set up on a week-to-week basis by the West Coast Conference based on matching up teams of similar strength to make games competitive for those teams. Tackle Football Games are held every Saturday until the regular season ends in early November.

 

In a normal season tackle teams play 10 scheduled games, although sometimes teams will have 1- or 2 bye weeks during the season. In addition, teams may play in playoff games or invitational games as late mid-December if the team advances in regional and national playoffs; or if teams decide to play at invitational bowls in places such as Hawaii, Nevada, or Arizona. With rare exception teams are only allowed to play in one invitational game.

 

Where do TPPW teams practice?

TPPW teams practice during weekdays at the field in Carmel Valley.

 

​Where do TPPW teams play home games? 

TPPW's home games are played at Torrey Pines High School.

 

Why don't teams have a set schedule after mid-October? 

West Coast Conference can only schedule games through mid-October because that is when division playoffs begin. The conference then must determine field availability based on the next week's playoff pairings, so all games must be scheduled week to week.

 

All teams not in playoffs have games against similar-strength opponents through the first Saturday of November. After that date games are only played as "invitational" or as part of a regional/national playoff bracket.​

 

Is Participation in Pop Warner Safe?

Pop Warner has a long history of providing a safe environment for all our members. 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. Datalys Institute’s research data show that Pop Warner Rules and Heads-Up Football Training result in injury rate that has 87% fewer injuries than non-Heads-Up/non-Pop Warner programs.

 

How do volunteer to be a coach/administrator for my local program?

Volunteers are the most important part of Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., and our nearly 1 million volunteers have continued to drive our organization for over 79 years! First off, to volunteer for your local organization please use the national League Finder to find your program and contact them about helping.  You can e-mail us at info@torreypinespopwarner.com if you are interested in one of the open positions.

Pop Warner programs nationwide are required to annually conduct a background check of Coaches, Board of Directors members and any other persons, volunteers or hired workers, who provide regular service to the league and/or have repetitive access to, or contact with, players and/or spirit participants. The purpose of these background checks is, first and foremost, to protect the children.