Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the typical practice schedule during August?

Pop Warner has a limit of 10 hours per week in August. Most of our teams practice Monday thru Thursday, from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. at MA High School.

2. And after the season starts?

Pop Warner has a limit of 6 hours per week after the Jamboree. While each team may have a specific schedule, we generally practice Wednesday and Friday nights, with an occasional Saturday practice. Note this limits us to one "homework" night per week, while other associations practice three nights a week.

3. What's the biggest "gotcha" that new families experience?

August practices: players really should be able to make most or all of the August practices. They have a lot to learn and when they miss practices, it can hurt the team, along with their confidence.

4. What about game day?

There is the occasional hour-long drive to a game (once or twice a season.) Note that your child may really enjoy watching our other teams play during the home games. We have a great time on Sundays and a number of players will want to spend all morning or afternoon "hanging' out" and cheering on other Viking teams.

Note that our game schedules are not final till the end of August and some modification of game times occurs during the season. Most games on Sunday, some on Saturday.

5. How can I make this a great season for my child and his teammates?

Easy! Just support the team by supporting the coaches and team parents! Note that your child's coach will easily put in twice as much time as the players. Make it easy for him to provide a great experience by helping out.

Also, come on out and watch a practice and bring friends and relatives to the games. You'll find that Pop Warner is much more of a cross community experience than most other youth sports. It’s also a great game of football!

6. Why does Pop Warner registration cost so much?

The expenses, including quality equipment, field use, game officials, insurance, etc..., are not covered by the registrations fees. Thus we ask sponsors to help cover the expenses of our football organization. No board members or coaches are paid; they are all volunteers. Registration fees cover approximately half of the costs of fielding a player.

7. Why a Birth Certificate?

The Pop Warner youth football system matches players on teams of similar ages and weights for safety reasons. Therefore, players of all teams nationwide must submit proof of age.

8. How is weight determined?

While the Vikings will initially use your submitted weight during registration, all players nationwide are weighed during "Certification Day" by Conference officials - in our case: officials from the Peninsula Pop Warner Conference weigh every player from all the teams from San Bruno to Santa Cruz... one at a time. Then each player is also weighed before each game... all this to make sure only players of equivalent weights are competing. If your player happens to fall on or slightly above the maximum weight range for their age, but is not eligible to move to the next level team because of age, they do assume the risk of working all of August and not 'making weight'. Please contact us with any questions.

9. Why must we submit school Report Cards?

Pop Warner National policy considers school more important than football. Thus a player must submit proof that he is academically sound enough so that football does not interfere with his grades. High academic achievement is rewarded in the "Pop Warner Little Scholars" program, resulting in a very elaborate dinner and awards night at the end of each year.

10. What about safety?

While injury is a possibility, excellent equipment, required conditioning, and weight/age similarity tend to minimize injury. Statistically, Pop Warner football has fewer injuries than soccer. See our Safety section for more info or contact us with any questions thru email or our hotline: 650.562.1950.

11. What about the family vacation we normally take in August?

August is the month of conditioning and -teaching, and is necessarily devoted to football. The MA Vikings are one of the few local organizations that do not practice on most Fridays IN August, giving the opportunity for ‘long’ weekends.

12. My son doesn't want to play football, but I think it is good for him or will "toughen him up"; should I sign him up?

No. Encourage him to seek a sport in which he has an interest.

13. You keep mentioning boys – what about girls playing?

The Vikings have had, and played teams with, female participants. While we honor several rules specific to female participants, they are essentially "just another football player."

We tell our teams to take all players seriously - I've seen a few boys knocked on their backsides the first time they play against a girl!