Page 20, AC Phoenix, January, 1992
PHOENIX SPORTS CORNER REVIEW
No Level Playing Field Here For Pop Warner Football
By Grant Daniels
Special to the Phoenix
Pop Warner League football was
designed for the recreation and
enjoyment of American youth. But
in Winston-Salem, the game is
controlled by grown-ups to the
point where Black youngsters are
being dealt with unfairly.
The Northwest Midget Football
League is the Pop Warner affiliate
for Winston-Salem. The league has
thrived thanks to lively competition
for a few national championship
banners that have been won by local
teams.
What the league has accomplished
deserves applause. But the way that
the Black organizations have been
gingerly prevented from pteying for
national titles is shameful. »
In late November, the Winston-
Salem Grayhounds’ Pee Wees’
team was chosen to play in the
nationals after winning the Mid-
South regional title game. The team
was picked by the people at the Pop
Warner national headquarters in
Philadelphia. The Grayhounds were
picked based on their regional win,
overall record and the grades of
team members.
That’s fine until you look at the
selection process for the nationals.
Teams are selected from eight
regions around the country. But
winning the regional game doesn’t
mean that your team will be
selected, even if the win-loss record
and team grades are good. The
f)eople at Pop Warner headquarters
pick one team per region, and rotate
those selections among four age
groups every year. . ,
Using Winston-Salem as an
example, here’s how it works.
Teams in the Northwest Midget
Football League are in the Mid-
South region. Let’s say a Winston
team wins the Pee Wees’ regional
title and is chosen to play in the
nationals. That means that the
following year, provided the same
Pee Wees’ team wins at the
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Near Dudley’s Cosmetology University
I^e Salute The King
regionals, that team won’t be
selected because they played for the
tide the year before.
This is where the game turned
messy for the Vikings’ Junior
Midgets’ team in 1991. The
Vikings, one of two predominandy-
Black organizations in the league,
have missed out on two consecutive
opportunities to play for a national
title.
"At the regionals, the Vikings
won in impressive fashion,
but were overlooked for the
nationals."
That’s strange when you look at
the record. When the Vikings
prevailed at the regionals, it was
their 26th straight win. This team
hasn’t lost a game in two years.
At the regionals, the Vikings won
in impressive fashion, but were
overlooked for the nationals. In
1990, the Vikings did get the bid,
but reportedly didn’t go because the
Northwest Midget Football League
declared that they couldn’t raise
sufficient funds to take the team to
California where the nationals were
played. To make matters worse, the
league made that decision without
giving the Vikings the chance to see
if they could raise the necessary
funds. Since they weren’t able to
go, the Grayhounds’ Junior Pee
Wees’ team was chosen. That
squad took the trip and came back
with the national title.
Stranger still, is the. turn of events
that took place at the regionals last
November. The Vikings’ Junior
Midgets seemed to be the obvious
choice for the nationals since
everything else was in order. But
instead, the Grayhounds’ Pee
Wees’ team was picked. That team
was the same group that won the
national title in 1990 as Junior Pee
Wees.
What’s even more disturbing is
that there’s reason to believe that the
national Pop Warner people had
pretty much decided who would
represent the Mid-South region
before the regional games were
even played. On the day of the
regionals, a representative from Pop
Warner headquarters called
Winston-Salem league officials at 5
p.m. to tell them who would be
going. That’s not just for Winston-
Salem. That’s the process used for
all regions.
Now that makes you wonder.
How could such a decision be made
so quickly? In most cases, the final
game of the regional championships
doesn’t end until 4 p.m. or 4:30
p.m.
That sounds like a bad deal. It’s
not right for one organization to
benefit at the expense of another.
League by-laws have their place.
But, there’s a major difference
between a by-law and doing what’s
right. It seems that being fair is an
obsolete concept these days.
Perhaps some interested parties
should approach the Northwest
Midget Football League about its
method of operating. If satisfaction
can’t be found, maybe it’s time to
look for another league to play in or
form a separate league.
HAPPY KING DAY
from
AMBASSADOR CATHEDRAL
1500 Harriet Tubhan Drive
Winston-Saleh, N.C. 27105
Bishop F. D. Patterson,
Pastor
First Lady
Dorothy Patterson,
Church Mother
. The Church of Love,
Faith, Beauty and Hope