Fullerton Junior All American Bears

The Fullerton Junior All American Bears are members of the Orange County Junior All American Football Conference (OCJAAF). Comprised of twenty-nine (29) chapter (city) members throughout the Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties, OCJAAF is the largest youth football and cheerleading organization in the nation. The Fullerton Junior All American Bears are honored to contribute to OCJAAF's diversity, which makes the Orange County Junior All American Football Conference number one in competition. The Fullerton Junior All American Bears are proud to sponsor OCJAAF's core values of "family" and of "community" - the standards that keep OCJAAF and the Fullerton Junior All American Bears a leading youth football and cheerleading organization. Families come in many combinations and we celebrate the word of "family" as meaning: team, the Fullerton Junior All American Bears, community and the OCJAAF Conference. There is nothing stronger than the spirit in the word of family and you will see it and feel it within the Fullerton Junior All American Bears organization and our OCJAAF Conference.

The objective of the Fullerton Junior All American Bears program is to inspire youth, regardless of race, color, creed, or national origin; to practice the ideals of health, citizenship and character; to bring our youth closer together through the means of a common interest in sportsmanship, fair play and fellowship; to impart to the game elements of safety, sanity and intelligent supervision; and to keep the welfare of the player and/or cheerleader first, foremost and entirely free of adult lust for glory.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Pop Warner's New Rule

Ahead of season, Pop Warner renews safety emphasis

By Jamie McCracken, USA TODAY

In an attempt to cut down on concussion-related injuries, Pop Warner football announced Tuesday that it was banning head-to-head hits and limiting contact in practice to 40 minutes a day. But already there is debate among coaches about whether the measures go too far or not far enough.


"I'm not as much concerned about my kid who has played for three years, but I am concerned about the kid who has never played before," said John Jackson, who is a coach in the Los Angeles suburb of Redondo Beach and was a wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears from 1990 to 1996.


"I question if 40 minutes of contact drills is enough time for me to teach the kid the technique properly, because we got limited practice time anyway," said Jackson, who has a 12-year-old son in the league.


Edward Marshall, the father of three sons, is the co-founder of the Central Oklahoma Pop Warner League, and his concerns include policing the rule changes among 7,500 coaches.


"I don't know if it's enough changes right now. That's probably something I will find out when practice starts," Marshall said. "It might not be enough, because it's hard to monitor every coach to make sure that they're doing that in practice."


Pop Warner executive director Jon Butler said the new regulations could be just a start as more information becomes available. "Football, in terms of sports, is very capable of evolving and changing appropriately," Butler said. "If new research comes out, we will continue to change our rules to keep our kids as safe as we can.


"The other thing that gets very interesting is that Pop Warner gets very self-policing, because nobody wants another program to get an advantage."


The policies come after studies detailing the risks of concussions in football as well as lawsuits filed by more than 2,000 retired players against the NFL alleging the league did not protect them.


At an advisory board meeting Tuesday in Chicago, the nation's largest and oldest youth football, cheer and dance organization also announced that no full-speed head-on blocking and no tackling drills that involve players lining up more than 3 yards apart would be allowed.


"The impact of head-to-head contact causes the most severe concussions, so we felt it was imperative that Pop Warner take a proactive approach and limit contact in practices," said Julian Bailes, chairman of the Pop Warner medical advisory board. "We're trying to take away all at once the head-to-head contact in practice."


The rules also state that only two linemen in stances immediately across from each other will be permitted and coaches are allowed to have full-speed drills in which players approach each other at an angle but not straight ahead into each other.


Marshall and other coaches support the changes and long-standing rules as well as Pop Warner's attempts to make the game safer for kids.


"I love that there's a weight limit, because I have a son that's 7 years old but he's only approximately 40 pounds — maybe 45 pounds at the most — and I just don't feel comfortable putting him against a kid that's 125 pounds, even though they're the same age and in the same grade," Marshall said.


Mike Webb, executive commissioner of Los Angeles County Pop Warner, said the new rules were a good compromise and a balanced ratio. "You want to have the appropriate balance between instruction," he said, "but also make certain that safety always comes first."
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"Safety always comes first"?!?!  This is the quote from an executive commissioner of Pop Warner?  Safety always comes first when Pop Warner passes a rule to allow 5 and 6 year old children to play tackle football and helmet manufacturers don't even make a helmet that fits the majority of children at age 5 and 6.  Safety always comes first.  Safety always comes when Pop Warner no longer mandates yearly helmet reconditioning so Pop Warner can give out a helmet that is 10 years old and not certified for use.  Safety always comes first.  It certainly does. 
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