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With registrations right around the corner, I felt it necessary to answer this question. Weight/Age restrictions are a hot topic in our community. In LPW schematics, weight is a big factor due to children not yet having the necessary skill sets to handle children that out weigh them by 10 or more lbs. Smaller children could be potentially discouraged from playing due to the size of older children that weigh more than them on their team and/or in the league. Fundamentals will teach children the "How Tos" of football such as tackling, how to be tackled, how to catch, pass, and pursue. There are some leagues who would let a Mitey Mite at 94 lbs. potentially play against a child that is 114 lbs. That is a 20 lb. difference. These children could be the same age. In high school football, the fundamentals are already taught so these student/athletes have the necessary tools to handle a 20 lb. difference but not at the Midget and lower levels. In essense, it is about coaching these student/athletes to learn the fundamentals of the game with minimal injury as possible.

-Daniel Ducksworth

The foundation of Pop Warner has always been safety. The best way to ensure the safety of a young football player is to ensure that he/she will not be over-matched by size or by age. The goal of the PWLS age-weight schematic is to control the overall range of weights, from minimum to maximum, and the age of the children on the field in a given division of play. The age-weight schematic is based on growth charts developed by the American Medical Association and the U.S. Center for Disease Control to include the largest number of kids at a given age. Unfortunately, some children are too small, and others too large, to play Pop Warner Football. At any eligible age, the Pop Warner age-weight schematic includes children from the 10th percentile or lower, to the 95th percentile or higher. But the system has proved extremely safe over many years.

*Taken from eastbaywarriors.org (a Pop Warner Team)

Pop Warner has a long history of providing a safe environment for all of our members. Kids compete with kids of similar age and size. Pop Warner is the ONLY youth football program (local, regional and national) that sets and enforces a strict Age & Weight Matrix that reduces the risk and reality of injuries. Did you know that Pop Warner football is safer than soccer? Pop Warner football has 12% fewer injuries per capita among 5-15 year olds than organized soccer in the same age range.

*Taken from popwarner.com