La Jolla Pop Warner gears up for season

By Phil Dailey

The Fourth of July is in the rear-view mirror and that means it’s time to start thinking about the upcoming football season.

For the La Jolla Pop Warner Football & Cheer Association, it will be more than ready when practice begins in less than a month, especially when it comes to new gear.

If you have not yet signed up your child for football or cheerleading, the league is still accepting kids for each squad.

When it comes to football, however, there are a few extra reasons league president Scott Rosencrans is excited for the upcoming season.

“La Jolla Pop Warner is entering its seventh year, this is the first year we have really made major upgrades to what was given to us from the start,” Rosencrans said.

“The people who founded La Jolla Pop Warner provided a phenomenal base for us to move forward from, but unfortunately after six years, your shoulder pads, your helmet, your gear takes a beating, and to be truthful, the modern technology of helmets and shoulder pads have advanced so greatly in the last six years that you almost don’t even recognize the helmets from then and now,” he added.

And that’s why the league has invested more than $30,000 in new, safer equipment.

All La Jolla Pop Warner football players — from mitey mite to unlimited — will wear all new Riddell Speed Classic Helmets and Rawlings SRG Spartan shoulder pads.

“We felt it was an opportunity and a responsibility to upgrade our equipment to the highest possible standards that we could afford to do, so that’s what we did,” Rosencrans said.

La Jolla Pop Warner operates at La Jolla Country Day and has leagues that start with flag football (5-to 7-year olds) and full-contact leagues that include mitey-mite (7-to 9-year olds), junior peewee (8-to 10-year olds), pee wee (9-to 11-year olds), junior midget (10-to 12-year olds) and unlimited (11-to 14-year olds).

“What we have is extremely high-end equipment that rivals or exceeds many of the high schools,” Rosencrans said.”

Practice begins for all teams Aug. 1 at La Jolla Country Day.

For more information, go to

www.lajollapopwarner.org