The Milford Eagles Pop Warner mission is to teach fundamental values, skills and life lessons to young people through organized football and cheer. Primarily focusing on teaching them life skills such as:

· Teamwork

· Respect for yourself, teammates, coaches, parents, and opponents

· How to deal with adversity through success, failure, and hard work

· The importance of physical activity and exercise

· The importance of hard work and instilling a positive work ethic

We Want to teach our athletes important life skills like learning from failure, being part of a team, respecting your friends, family teammates and competition. We're working to build the foundation for being a good person who does the right thing, does the best they can and always shows people they care. It's all about setting the right goals then going after them with appropriate effort and knowing that you can't achieve anything great without the help of great people around you.

Practically what should you expect in order to achieve those goals? Expect to be part of the Milford Eagles family. A community of people committed to each other and the organization so collectively we can achieve our mission. Like being part of any family, it takes work, commitment and sacrifice. That will translate into some basic guidelines below, all contributing to our mission. WE PLAY HARD, WE PLAY TOGETHER, WE ARE EAGLES!

What the commitment and organization looks like:

·       Each team will be staffed with USA Football certified coaches through USA Football's Heads Up certification program. The board and coaching staff will also be equipped with CPR certified members.

·       Milford Eagles will supply your athlete with a helmet, shoulder pads, knee pads, practice pants and jersey, game pants and jerseys. Players and parents are responsible for mouthpieces, girdles, socks, cleats and any extra padding. It is the players and parents’ responsibility to care for and maintain all equipment while in their possession. Any issues with equipment should be reported to the player’s head coach or the Equipment Manager promptly. At the end of the season, all issued equipment must be returned. Players and parents will be financially responsible for lost equipment.

·       Practice will officially begin on August 1st with an expectation of 10 hours of practice per week until school is in session. During the first week, athletes will spend 10 hours without equipment dedicated to conditioning and introductions to tackle football movements, drills, and concepts. Pop Warner football requires athletes to complete 10 hours of practice before putting on any equipment. All practices, with very few exceptions, take place at the Milford YMCA.

·       Typically, after Labor Day, the practice schedule will be reduced to 6 hours per week, usually 3- 2-hour practices. Practice times, and schedules will be determined by the team coaching staff and communicated accordingly. Practice is considered mandatory and is a critical part of the development and success of each individual and more importantly the collective group. Coaches and the organization will be reasonable in the event of conflicts, but parents and players should plan on attending all practices and games with few exceptions.

·       The regular season typically kicks off the last weekend in August and runs until the middle of October. Games are scheduled for Saturday or Sunday with Home games played at Jonathan Law or Foran high school. The season is 8 weeks long, running until the middle of October. Travel to away games is the responsibility of the parents of the players.

·       Pop Warner enforces a minimum play rule for all games depending on the roster size of the team. What this means is that every player who successfully checks in before the game will play a minimum set of plays in the game. While every player will play a minimum number of plays on game days, practice is the most critical developmental piece for athletes throughout the year.

·       All divisions are eligible for postseason playoffs or postseason tournaments based on record. The postseason can last through the first full week in December but typically ends mid-November.  If teams qualify, the Pop Warner National Championships are held at Disney's ESPN Sports Complex in Orlando, FL, during the first full week in December. The league is not responsible for travel costs for players but may assist with a monetary donation to teams when possible.

·       There will be individual team celebrations and/or a full organization banquet at the conclusion of all football and cheer seasons.