If you don’t understand these rules or have questions, please ask a CPWA staff member for help. 

Those in violation of rules 4 – 10 may be asked to leave the premises by coaches or staff.

 
Costs of Participation

All Pop Warner games charge admission. Traditionally, the cost for adults is $3.00, and the cost for a non-participating child is $1.00. What constitutes an adult or child may vary from field to field. Children under age 5 are usually admitted free. Participating children and Pop Warner volunteers with proper Pop Warner ID are admitted free. These prices are subject to change from one year to the next. Post-season game/competition admission costs will vary.

Football:

All players must provide their own footwear and any personal items, such as athletic supporters. One mouthpiece is provided for each child at the start of the season.  Players are responsible for replacement mouthpieces.

Players at the Junior Pee Wee level and above may advance to post-season play.  If a team advances to the Regional level, out-of-state travel will likely be required.  Regional championships are held Thanksgiving weekend.  National championships are held in Orlando, Florida at Walt Disney World in December.  Travel for the two events costs approximately $1,000 per child.  Parents are encouraged to set aside funds and participate fully in all fundraising efforts.  CPWA will assist in fundraising efforts for advancing teams, but parents will bear primary responsibility for the costs associated with such travel.

Cheerleading:

All cheerleaders must purchase their own socks, shoes, bloomers, hair accessories, and poms. Ordering/purchasing information is provided by us so that everyone gets the right items.

Cheerleaders at the Junior Pee Wee level and above may advance to post-season competition, or be required to travel with their football team to post-season games.  If a team/squad advances to the Regional level, out-of-state travel will likely be required.  Regional competition is held Thanksgiving weekend.  National competition is held in Orlando, Florida at Walt Disney World in December.  Travel for the two events costs approximately $1,000 per child.  Parents are encouraged to set aside funds and participate fully in all fundraising efforts.  CPWA will assist in fundraising efforts for advancing teams, but parents will bear primary responsibility for the costs associated with such travel.

Dance:

We are always looking for sponsors.  If you know of a business or individual willing to make a contribution, we’re interested!  We offer several different levels of sponsorship to choose from.  CPWA is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, and contributions are tax-deductible (consult your tax professional).  For reference, your registration fees are not considered contributions, but are payment for services.

Forms for signing up sponsors are available from Board members and on our website in the Forms & Documents section.

A Word About Fundraising

Cleveland Pop Warner Association has made many great strides in the last few years.  Among these, sending our first ever team to national competition at Disney World was one of our proudest moments.  It was also a time of valuable lessons.  We learned much about competing at the national level.  We learned how grueling raising the necessary money in such a short period of time could be.  And we learned about what happens when the administration and the parents are not on the same page when it comes to who pays what. What we hope to accomplish here is to set down exactly what is expected of everyone involved with teams and squads at the Junior Pee Wee level and older, and what will happen when a team advances in post-season events.

Policy 

As you can see, the money in the Post-Season Play Fund comes from sources throughout the organization.  Any one of the teams in the divisions mentioned above could advance in any given year, and they would benefit from the combined efforts of the organization as they travel to represent us.  Money not spent in a year is carried to the next year, allowing the fund to grow so that as more teams get the opportunity to travel, they are not restricted by a lack of funds.  

Division of Financial Responsibility 

The expenses for post-season travel will be divided as follows:

Parents of team members                               Post-Season Play Fund

All participants must wear proper attire to practice.  No sandals, boots, slip-on shoes, jeans, cutoffs, or clothing with buttons, zippers or snaps.    Cheerleaders must wear their hair up off their shoulders using only soft hair accessories.  No metal or plastic hair accessories allowed.  Absolutely no jewelry is permitted; please keep this in mind if considering getting ears pierced, as the earrings MUST be removed for practices and games.  No nail polish is permitted for practice or games. These rules are put in place at the national level by Pop Warner Little Scholars and apply to ALL Pop Warner programs.

No personal information such as home address or phone numbers will be provided to any outside entity by CPWA without your permission.  If you do not wish us to use your child's image and/or name in this fashion, you must notify us in writing.  Such notice may be turned in to the Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Football Director, Cheer Director, or webmaster.  

If any parent or staff member has a question or a problem, the following steps will be followed to address the issue: 

1. Speak to your Head Coach about it.  If you ARE the Head Coach, see the Director and follow the Chain of Command from that point.
2. If your Head Coach cannot resolve the issue or answer the question, you may request that the Head Coach set up a meeting with the Football or Cheer Director. 
3. If after meeting with the Director, the issue has not been resolved, you may request the Director to set up a meeting with the Commissioner for all people involved. 
4. If there has been no resolution, the Commissioner will take the issue to the Board of Directors.  If the Board of Directors agrees, the Commissioner will take the issue to the proper authorities at the League level.

Any violation of the Chain of Command will carry a one (1) game suspension for the first offense, and a one (1) year suspension for any following offense.  There will be no exceptions to this policy.

1. At any Pop Warner event, practice or competition, any adult who: 1) verbally abuses; 2) attempts to intimidate; 3) is flagrantly rude, or, 4) cannot control their language or actions with an official, coach, or Pop Warner volunteer will be asked to leave the Pop Warner event and may be suspended from all Pop Warner events, including practices, for a period to be determined by the Commissioner. 
2. Any adult that commits a second similar offense will be banned from Pop Warner events for one year from the date of the second offense, and their child(ren) removed from Pop Warner for the same time period.  
3. Any adult who physically assaults an official, coach or Pop Warner volunteer will be banned from Pop Warner and their child removed from the Pop Warner program for one year from the date of the offense.  The child(ren) may not participate in another Pop Warner Association during the sanction period.  After one year, the parent may apply for re-instatement of his or her child(ren).  If the adult commits a second offense, he or she will be permanently banned from Pop Warner events and the child(ren) may be permanently removed from any and all Pop Warner programs.