$140,000 for WHAT???

Save Somerville Pop Warner!

• The City of Somerville Recreation Department is proposing to spend $140,000 for a new youth football league. [1]
• The City of Somerville ALREADY HAS a successful youth football league that has been here for 50 years! [2] Somerville Pop Warner (SPW) is a strong, well-established program that is self-supporting, and provides a safe, fun and instructional setting for football and cheerleading for 200 children, ages 5 - 14. SPW costs the City NOTHING, and relies solely on volunteers.
• In public testimony, Jim Halloran, the head of the Recreation Department, stated his ultimate goal is to have one football league in Somerville. [3] Since it is his department that is sponsoring the new league, this will likely lead to the demise of Somerville Pop Warner.
• Last year, the City tried to shut down Somerville Pop Warner through control of field space. [4] Adding another sports league will only make scheduling fields, a limited resource, more difficult.
• SPW is financially accessible to ALL children of Somerville. Fees are modest, SPW provides equipment, and no child has EVER been turned away due to lack of funds.
• SPW welcomes children of all abilities.  There are *no* tryouts.  Each child participates in a mandatory minimum number of plays at each game.
• The Pop Warner football program is the safest youth football program in the nation. A study reported on by USA Today states that players in leagues other than Pop Warner are “9 to 10 times more likely to sustain concussions in practice than Pop Warner players.” [5]
• Pop Warner does have restrictions for age and weight, but this is for safety. [6] In recent history, SPW has turned away about 1 child per year for weight. Children who are modestly over the weight limits are permitted to join SPW and practice with the team that most closely matches their age/weight category. In many cases, these children drop enough weight during August practices to qualify for games once the season officially starts in September.

Please call your aldermen and ask them to cut a wasteful, unneeded alternate football program.  The critical budget hearing is June 20, 2013, so call now!

• John M. Connolly, Alderman At Large (Vice-President), 617-625-0781, aldermanconnolly@gmail.com
• Bruce M. Desmond, Alderman At Large, 617-666-1757, brucemdesmond@yahoo.com
• Dennis M. Sullivan, Alderman At Large, 617-628-1857, aldermansullivan@aol.com
• William A. White Jr., Alderman At Large, 617-625-9110, william.a.white@verizon.net
• Maureen Bastardi, Ward 1, 617-764-5373, aldermanbastardi@comcast.net
• Maryann M. Heuston, Ward 2, 617-492-5331, mheuston@hotmail.com
• Thomas F. Taylor, Ward 3, 617-776-1618, tftald32@aol.com
• Tony Lafuente, Ward 4, 617-686-6397, tony@tonylafuente.com
• Courtney O'Keefe, Ward 5, 617-224-8328, ckokeefe@gmail.com
• Rebekah L. Gewirtz, Ward 6, 617-718-0792, rebekah.gewirtz@gmail.com
• Robert C. Trane, Ward 7, 617-623-5767, roberttrane@aol.com

Thanks for your help!

[1] http://www.somervillema.gov/node/49641 Click on “Final Budget Master” and scroll to page 189. $140,000 for a new football league is proposed in the 2nd bullet item under “Changes between FY2013 and FY2014.”

[2] http://www.leaguelineup.com/sjh

[3] At 2:35:10 here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=1677&AgendaID=1575&FileFormat=pdf&Format=Agenda&MediaFileFormat=wmv. If you have trouble accessing the link, go to http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Calendar.aspx#, look for the Jun 5, 2013 6:00 PM Finance Committee entry. Click on the “video” link. You may have to download viewer software. Just follow the directions indicated on the link above.

[4] Somerville Journal article: http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/features/x887145833/Pop-Warners-cite-lack-of-support-for-youth-sports-in-Somerville#axzz2WQ6XCi4J

[5] USA Today article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/preps/2013/02/05/youth-sports-safety-summit-washington-dc-concussions-heart-related-deaths/1894743/, Study: http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/cirp-middle-school-rio

[6] http://www.popwarner.com/Assets/01-assets/admin/2013Forms/2013+Age-Weight.pdf SPW has 6 teams, A - F. These correspond to the divisions listed on the form above as follows: “Midget” is A-team, “Jr. Midget” is B-team, “Pee Wee” is C-team, “Jr. Pee Wee” is D-team, “Mitey-Mite” is E-team, and “Tiny-Mite” is F-team.

Welcome to the home of the Somerville Pop Warner Football & Cheerleading organization. We are located in Somerville Mass. We are part of the G.B.L. (Greater Boston League) Football Conference.

The Somerville Pop Warner Football & Cheer Program is a non-profit organization interested in building leadership, learning skills, teamwork and discipline.

We take pride in bringing together boys and girls from the city of Somerville to learn important life lessons through playing organized football and participating in cheering. We encourage good sportsmanship, respect for our community and each other, and strong team unity. We are committed to keeping youth sports in its proper perspective.

It‘s important now more than ever that kids have a place to go and opportunity to do something productive to give back to their city. All our volunteers are dedicated to making your child‘s experience a positive one.