National Pop Warner Championships-Super Bowl
Each year, Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. hosts the Pop Warner Super Bowl and National Cheer and Dance Championships. Since 1997, the event has taken place at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex™ in Orlando, FL during the first full week of December.
The Pop Warner Football Championships (referred to as the Pop Warner Super Bowl) are divided into teams competing in Division I and Division II. 64 football teams compete for National Championships in 4 different age/weight ranges (Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Varsity & Varsity). Beginning in 2011, Pop Warner also hosted the Inaugural Mitey-Mite Bowl games, featuring eight teams in the Mitey-Mite age/weight division (7-9 years old / 45-90 lbs).
In order to advance to the Pop Warner Super Bowl, a team must win its respective League Championship as well as the Regional Championship. Each advancing team is guaranteed to play two games at the Super Bowl, with a National Champion being crowned in each age-weight division and competition level.
The Cheer & Dance Championships feature over 300 cheer and dance teams who compete at a five-day long event. Competitions take place at the HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex (tm). Cheer & Dance Squads compete in 4 different age ranges (Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Varsity & Varsity). The Cheer teams also compete in sizes (Small, Medium & Large) and four competition categories (YCADA PW1, PW2, PW3 & PW4). The Dance teams compete in two competition categories (YCADA Pom Performance and Theme Dance).
The 2017 Pop Warner Super Bowl and National Cheer & Dance Championships will take place from Saturday, December 2nd through Saturday, December 9th at ESPN Wide World of Sports™ Complex.
Did you know Pop Warner is the ONLY entity besides the NFL that gets to use the term Super Bowl!
Super Bowl Overview
The Football National Championships, known as the Pop Warner Super Bowl, consists of 64 teams from eight Pop Warner Regions playing in 5 age/weight classifications (Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Varsity, Varsity & Unlimited). There are also two playing divisions, Division I and Division II.
A football team plays a 7 to 9 game schedule and at the end of the regular season, usually during the last week in October, a team prepares for league playoffs. Once a league champion has been decided a team has won the right to participate in regional championships.
Those teams that win at the regional championships are invited to ESPN Wide World of Sports™ to compete for a national championship in the Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Varsity and Varsity divisions.
More than 85 games take place throughout the 7-day event in December, including the Division I Jr. Varsity National Championship game, which will be featured on ESPNU shortly after the event and throughout the NFL Super Bowl week. Throughout the week, 24 games are also aired live on WatchESPN. In both Division I & Division II play, an outright champion is crowned in all levels of play (Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Varsity, Varsity & Unlimited).
Pop Warner has always had an outright Division I Varsity champion, and began following the same format for Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee and Jr. Varsity beginning in 2006. Division II Football also began crowning an outright national champion in all four age/weight divisions in 2010.
This year, Jr. Pee Wee and Pee Wee teams will be competing for the second straight year in Division III football. In addition, the week also includes several Mitey Mite, Challenger League and International Divison exhibitions.