News Relase: 2010 Season of Success

Merrillville Pop Warner youth cheerleading and football squads completed the 2010 season with great success.  The Junior Midget football team, along with the Pee Wee and Midget cheer squads, was strong competitors at the league, regional, state and national levels. 

 The Junior Midget football team ended the season with a 7-4 record culminating in a 2010 Division III State Championship title win against Boone Grove at Ames Field in Michigan City, Indiana.  “2010 was another fantastic year.  We are very proud of our guys and the direction the program is taking” states Edmond Griffin, 2010 football commissioner and the newly elected Board President.  “In three years we have had two state championships and are looking forward to many more.  As we tell our players, hard work always pays off.”

 The Merrillville cheer squads also had a season packed with success.  The Midget cheerleading team placed second at the Northern Indiana Pop Warner Little Scholars (NIPWLS) league competition, qualifying to compete at the Mid-America Regional Cheer and Dance Competition at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.

 The Pee Wee cheer squad scored a first place win in their division at the NIPWLS league competition and was the recipient of the Spirit Award (an honor bestowed upon the most spirited squad out of the 50 squads attending).  The win also qualified the team to compete at the regional competition in DeKalb.  A second place finish in their division at regionals presented the team with the opportunity to travel to the Pop Warner National Cheer & Dance Competition held at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Florida to compete against cheer quads from across the nation.  More success was in tow as the team secured a top ten finish in their division.  Tawnia Foster, cheer coordinator and head coach of the Pee Wee cheer team, comments on the team’s success “always remember with hard work and dedication, dreams can come true…Merrillville Pop Warner cheerleaders are proof of that.”

 Pop Warner is the largest and oldest youth football and cheerleading organization in the nation.  As with all Pop Warner programs, Merrillville Pop Warner’s mission is to enable youth to reap the benefits of participating in team sports while emphasizing the importance of academic success.  Merrillville Pop Warner has served children in Merrillville and Crown Point since 1967.  The youth organization has served over 300 kids during the 2010 season alone. 

 An information session is being held on Sunday, January 30, 2011 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Merrillville High School (Entrance P).  Parents are encouraged to attend to learn about the organization and receive information on registration for the 2011 season.  For more information about Merrillville Pop Warner please contact Edmond Griffin, Board President at (219) 614-3772 or visit www.mpwfootball.com.