2017 Football Blog

Part two of our spotlight on the coaching heritage of the Pearl family of the Virginia Beach Mustangs Pop Warner program.

Part one of our spotlight on the coaching heritage of the Pearl family of the Virginia Beach Mustangs Pop Warner program.

It’s blue skies, warm breezes and fun all-the-way galore down here at ESPN Wide World of Sports for opening day of Pop Warner Super Bowl 2017.

Hi, folks!  Bob Field here, blogging again for this fabulous week of Pop Warner football, cheer and dance.

Can you believe it’s the 24 consecutive year of Pop Warner Super Bowl weeks at Disney/ESPN?   And, just when you think you’ve seen it all, guess what?  The  innovation and increased opportunity for all with Pop Warner just keeps coming!

This season, the innovation starts with something called “Rookie Tackle”. Pop Warner and USA Football have joined forces for this pilot program, and it is already generating excitement from the highlands of Colorado to the lowlands of the Holland. It’s also gaining enthusiastic support from kids, parents, communities and coaches who saying, “Wow! We want ‘in’!”

What is “Rookie Tackle”. It’s a transitional program for kids between Flag Football and Mitey Mites and it promises to be the hottest thing in youth football in many a year. Thanks to the good folks from Hill Country Pop Warner in Austin, Texas, it is gaining advocates from near and far.

Hill Country’s four team league is one of 10 pilot programs for USA Football’s “Rookie Tackle”. The program keeps rosters of players down to a choice of 6 on 6, 7 on 7, or 8 on 8.  The reduced rosters, plus a smaller playing field ( generally 40 years long) gives young players a chance to play tackle football without the pressure of playing on an NFL sized gridiron against 11 man rosters.

Now, we know that Texas has a long, and venerable history of “6 Man High School Football” going back to the lean years of the Great Depression in places like Pecan Gap. Pearland, Dripping Springs and Groom.  But, while “Rookie Tackle” pays a bit of homage to those stirring games played by small towns across the Lone Star State, “Rookie Tackle” is a brand new breed of cat.

“Rookie  Tackle” is a “bridge-game” between flag and 11 player tackle that creates a best – practice pathway that allows youngsters to get a feel for the great game of football by playing a number of different positions in every game, two point stances, no “special teams”, and with coaches on the field helping to instruct, inform and encourage each kid out there.

What a great way to get a better coach-to-player ratio going, at an early stage, to work on the solid fundamentals of the game.  And, what a great way for parents to feel comfortable about their child’s transition into tackle football at a well run, safe and all-inclusive level.

We had the chance to talk to Janan Miller, President and Cuatro Gross, V.P of Hill Country Pop Warner to get the first-hand scoop on how “Rookie Tackle” has taken a hold on the Austin, Texas football faithful, as well as newbie parents and families to Pop Warner.

We also caught up with, Andy Ryland from USA Football to hear more about the philosophy and fun of “Rookie Tackle.”  To hear it all from Andy, Janan and Cuatro check out the video below.  

Yep, at a time when sound development, and greater opportunity, in all youth sports is more vital than ever, the partnership of USA Football and Pop Warner could be a HUGE addition to programs far and near.  

For more information on “Rookie Tackle “ Football, see the USA Football website at https://usafootball.com/rookietackle/

“A man has to teach a man how to be a man,” stated Troy Smith, former Ohio State quarterback on the night he became the 72nd recipient of College Football’s Heisman Trophy. And, the “man” Troy Smith gave all credit to never giving up on him and teaching how to be a “man”? None other than the soft spoken, “Rock of Gibraltar” maker of top notch football players, and great men, Ted Ginn, Sr.

Pop Warner is blessed with many fine standard bearers for the way to comport oneself on the field, off the field, and for life. And, Ted Ginn, Sr., on hand and proudly watching his namesake, the Ginn Elite, play great football in today’s Mitey Mite Bowl, is a man and a mentor who we all agree is right at the top of that list.

As the legendary former coach of Glenville High School, Ted Ginn, Sr. has been described as both an evangelist and a Pied Piper for re-writing the game of football in the Cleveland area.

A man instilled from youth with strong religious values, Ted Ginn, Sr. naturally translated those values, plus a determined work ethic, to a successful playing career, and later coaching prominence, at his alma mater- Glenville High.

How successful has Ted Ginn, Sr. been as a coach? Well, tally up he fact that Glenville has been in the playoffs year after year, along with winning states in 2007, and the fact that the track team he also coached won states five times, plus the fact that Ted Ginn, Sr. has coached some 50 full scholarship college players...including current pro players, son Ted Ginn, Jr. and Marshon Lattimore, and…well, you get the picture. Ted Ginn, Sr. is a winner.

But, here’s the thing. When asked what he thought of today’s Pop Warner Mitey Mite Bowl, Ted Ginn, Sr. told us, with a big beaming smile, “That was the best game I’ve seen in 41 years of coaching.” Wow! That’s a Hall of Fame coaching legend praising the fun and the promise of Pop Warner Football for kids who are just starting along a pathway to team-experiences and life-lessons that will stand them ALL in good stead for the future.

Thanks to the man the New Orleans Saints call “Pops” for giving his time and energy and to mentoring pros…with that same commitment he now makes to families and young kids…Pop Warner kids…many of whom are on the high-road to become the men that Troy Smith, and many others, credit Ted Ginn, Sr. with making them today.