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It all began in 1929 when the owner of a new
factory in Northeast Philadelphia enlisted the aid of a young
friend, Joseph J. Tomlin, to solve a recurring problem. The
factory's huge ground-to-floor windows were constantly being
shattered - 100 broken windows in just one month - by teenagers
hurling stones from a nearby vacant lot.
 Joe
Tomlin, an enthusiastic athlete who had excelled in sports in high
school and college, had a possible answer. Since the other factories
in the area were also being plagued by the young vandals, he
suggested that the building owners get together to fund an athletic
program for the kids. In those days, the city did not have organized
recreation programs to keep idle kids occupied and out of trouble.
The owners agreed, and asked Tomlin to set up a
program. Commuting from his job as a stockbroker in New York City,
he returned to his home in Philadelphia each weekend. Fall was
approaching, so football seemed a logical choice to begin the new
project. He set up a schedule for a four-team Junior Football
Conference in time for the 1929 season.
Then October came, and with it the collapse of
the stock market. He left New York and returned to Philadelphia to
concentrate on youth work.
By 1933, the Junior Football Conference had
expanded to 16 teams. That year
Glenn Scobie "Pop" Warner, already a legend among active
football coaches, arrived in Philadelphia to coach the Temple Owls.
Joe Tomlin met Pop Warner at a winter banquet and asked him to
lecture at a spring clinic Tomlin was planning for his JFC teams.
On the evening of April 19, 1934, the
temperature dropped to an unseasonable low, with high winds and
torrential rain mixed with sleet. Of the dozen area college football
coaches scheduled to speak at the clinic, only Pop Warner showed up.
The 800 excited young football players kept him talking and
answering questions for two hours. By the end of the evening, by
popular acclaim, the fledging youth program was renamed the Pop
Warner Conference.
 The
prestigious Warner name was a powerful attraction. By 1938, there
were 157 teams. Most of the players were at least 15 years old and a
few were even over 30. Competition was organized along top weights
only, except for the youngest kids. Teams represented neighborhoods
in the city, while suburban teams represented towns.
During the depression years, a large number of
kids left school. Tomlin, a great believer in the importance of
education, fought the trend with literature and speakers. He also
arranged for tutors for "marginal" kids who wanted to stay in
school.
When World War II came, the Pop Warner
Conference lost most of its older players. Some squads folded, while
others merged. Only 42 teams remained.
Although the Conference rebounded to 100 teams
in the 1947 season, there was a shift in membership. Many of the
returning service-men abandoned football. Increasingly, the teams
were composed of 15-year-olds or younger. Rules were set up for
their benefit, including minimum and maximum weights. The era of
"midget football" had begun.
The first "kiddie" bowl game, called the Santa
Claus Bowl, was played on December 27, 1947, in 6 inches of snow
before 2000 freezing spectators. The Clickets midget team, sponsored
by Palumbo's, a Philadelphia supper club, competed against Frank
Sinatra's Cyclones, a New York team.
The Philadelphia team won the game, 6-0, and the
Philadelphia Pop Warner Conference won the attention of the nation
for the first time.
As football for kids began to develop in
communities across the country, Tomlin was deluged with requests for
help in starting teams. By the early 1950s, he was determined to "go
national." Although he had some supporters, he also had detractors.
Many people were convinced that tackle football was too dangerous
for kids. Joe told them that the Philadelphia midget program had
operated for 15 years without a fatality or serious injury. They
wouldn't listen.
 In
1953, he spoke at the National Education Association symposium on
"Sports for Youth" in Washington, D.C. He suggested to the attendees
that a liaison should be formed between the sports and educational
establishments for the good of the students. They wouldn't listen.
But there were others who did. Among them: the
American Football Coaches Association which bestowed its coveted "Stagg
Award" on Joe Tomlin in 1955 for his pioneering work among youth; a
major national insurance underwriter which offered a plan with rates
based on empirical evidence that tackle football for kids is as safe
as its proponents claimed; and Bert Bell, then NFL Commissioner,
who, shortly before his death, agreed to introduce the PW program to
team owners to gain their support nationally.
Tomlin's dream finally became a reality when Pop
Warner Little Scholars was officially incorporated as a national
non-profit organization in 1959. The name was selected to underscore
the basic concept of Pop Warner- that the classroom is as important
as the playing field.
Walt Disney, attracted by this philosophy,
filmed a two-hour show, "Moochie of Pop Warner Football." It aired
on ABC in 1960, and can still be seen today on the Disney cable
channel.
In the 1960's, Pop Warner Football burgeoned in
small hamlets, mid-sized cities and metropolitan areas from coast to
coast. By the end of the decade there were over 3000 teams.
But football was for boys and girls felt left
out. Cheering from the stands wasn't enough. They wanted, somehow,
to share in the excitement and fun down on the field. So Pop Warner
introduced a new activity: cheerleading. The girls loved it, and
during the 1970s this new branch of Pop Warner grew rapidly.
 In
1983, in response to many requests, a flag football program was
initiated. Originally designed for teams on a tight budget, this
sport has become an excellent training ground for tackle leagues.
Today, there are over 300,000 boys and girls,
ages 5-16, participating in PW programs in the United States. Teams
in Mexico and Japan have also joined the PW "family." There are now
over 5000 football teams, playing in eight different age/weight
classifications.
Cheerleading programs have expanded beyond the
traditional "sideline squads" to include performing groups such as
majorettes, pom squads, dancing boots and pep squads. The first
National Cheerleading Competition was held in 1988 and now shares
the spotlight with the annual PW Super Bowl, being held this year in
Walt Disney World.
There is also another competition which is an
integral part of the Pop Warner program. This competition recognizes
academic excellence, and being named an All-American Scholar is a
coveted honor for any PW player or cheerleader.
Author James Michener termed Pop Warner Football
as "organized juvenile sports at its best." But Pop Warner is more
than sports for kids. It's also the dedicated volunteers- the
coaches, field administrators, Board of Directors, Trustees - and
the generous contributors and sponsors who make it all possible.
Joe Tomlin passed away on May 16, 1988 at the
age of 85. He left a legacy which will endure as long as there are
kids and footballs- and dreams. |
