Santa Margarita Pop Warner Football and Cheer

Santa Margarita Pop Warner recently lost one of its most beloved alumni this past year. Zachary Quick passed away after a long and hard-fought battle with lymphoma.

A dedicated and talented athlete, Zach played a total of eight years of Pop Warner football, nine years of Little League baseball, and two years of NJB basketball here in Rancho Santa Margarita. In high school, he continued playing football and even took up volleyball in the off-season.

On the rare occasion when he wasn’t at practice or at a game, or watching JuJu Smith-Schuster energize his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, Zach could be found with his family and friends at the beach. He also loved to catch up on the latest Marvel movie and hang out at the local ice cream shop.

Zach’s magnetic charisma could be partially explained by his great sense of humor and his exceptional taste in music. (He loved music from the 70’s & 80’s.) And when your mantra is “Everything’s going to be alright,” it’s hard not have an indelibly positive impact on those around you.

Zach played for some of SM Pop Warner’s most successful teams. He experienced a couple of Orange Bowls and playoffs in Arizona while playing for his favorite coach—his dad, Mark—and his second favorite coach, league president, Mark Graves.

Zach was never the biggest or fastest player on the field, but his huge heart and love for the game allowed him to consistently exceed expectations. That’s how he earned his nickname, Stealth. In fact, Zach’s fondest memory was his “Rudy Ruettiger moment" during a playoff game against San Clemente. He sacked the quarterback in dramatic fashion to cap off a hugely successful game and season.

SM Pop Warner will be dedicating the 2019 football season to Zachary Quick. The league has also created an award to commemorate and honor his legacy. The Zachary Quick Stealth Fighter Award will be presented to the outstanding player who demonstrates exceptional determination, improving both as a student off the field as well as a teammate on the field. SM Pop Warner will present the award to one player each year during the league’s kickoff carnival.

OC's Biggest and Best Leads With Cutting Edge Safety Technology in 2019

NFL Head Referee's Tony Corrente and Carl Cheffers spoke to SMPW!

SMPW is teaming up with Dr. Mike Flores and team from AMP Sports Med in 2018 to provide cutting edge technology for every SMPW player with Safety as the number 1 focus.

Dr. Mike spoke on this new process at the SMPW Town Hall on June 11th. The Town Hall was held during SMPW Physical Day at Athlete's Choice in Rancho Santa Margarita. Dr. Mike spoke on concussion prevention and the use of KINETISENSE technology.

The Town Hall also featured current NFL Head Referee's Tony Corrente, and Carl Cheffers who talked about football safety from an officiating perspective and shared some NFL stories. Tommy D, of Athlete's Choice spoke on effective player training to round out our guest speakers.

Look for additional innovation led by SMPW in 2019

SIGN UP ON LINE TODAY FOR 2019 FOOTBALL/CHEER

On-line registration link for 2019 SMPW Football and Cheer. Space is very limited and some levels/teams will fill up before April. FIRST COME FIRST SERVE! SMPW will be creating two distinctly different teams in 2019; ULTRA COMPETITIVE Championship type teams and well coached DEVELOPMENTAL type teams.

2019 Fall Registration is Open Now

We are a CHARACTER MATTERS league

We believe that SAFETY is our top priority

We teach LIFE SKILLS

We promote GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP

We DEVELOP LEADERS

In 2018, SMPW had all competitive level teams make the playoffs! No other league has that happen. It starts with coaching and organization. Two teams played in Regional Championships with one winning the championship. We had two of our cheer teams earn the opportunity to compete on the national stage in Orlando and our Varsity team placed 3rd in the USA! No other youth football/Cheer comes close! WHY? SMPW has better organization and better coaching than those other leagues. 5 of our head coaches have 20 years each experience in youth football and DON'T have kids on the team and 4 other head coaches have over 10 years experience each!

In 2018, SMPW also became the new home of the MV COWBOYS program with multiple Cowboy Teams. SMPW will keep the proud MV COWBOYS heritage alive. You are in COWBOY COUNTRY! Our Pee Wee Cowboys team is coached by the founding family fo the Mission Viejo Cowboys and played in the Regional Championships this year! A second team was also coached by members of this family at Flag and finished the season undefeated!

At SMPW, we KNOW that coaches make the difference! Over the past 22 years, SMPW has developed the reputation for having the "Biggest and Best" program and one of the main reasons is we recruit and retain only the BEST coaches. For the past 5 years our league regularly gets 10% enrollment from "Other" youth football leagues and COACHES is a big reason.

Some of the Head Coaches for 2019 (Coaches will not be officially selected by interview committee until April)

Mike Healy - 20+ years - Multiple Orange Bowls - Regional Championships, National Championship Tournament
Rick Pizzuti - 20+ years - Multiple Orange Bowls - Regional Championships, National Championships tournament
Mark Graves - 20+ years - Multiple Orange Bowls - Regional Championships, National Championships tournament
Jim Staff - 20+ years - Multiple Orange Bowls, Regional Championships, National Championships tournament
Robert DeVault - 20+ years - Multiple Orange Bowls
Robert Badraun - 20+ years - MV Cowboys - Multiple Orange Bowls, Regional Championships and OCJAAF Super Bowls
John Beisel - 10+ years - Multiple Orange Bowls and Regional Championships
Errol Cruz - 10+ years - Multiple Orange Bowls
Blake Badraun - 10+ years- MV Cowboys - Multiple Orange Bowls and PCC/OCJAAF Championships
Daniel Badraun - 10+ Years - MV Cowboys - Multiple Orange Bowls and PCC/OCJAAF Championships
Jason Croy - 5+ Years
Justin Burtt, John Neville AND MANY OTHERS

We are putting together our plans for 2019 RIGHT NOW. If you want to be part of a winning organization that puts players first and is all about safety and teaching, join us in January through April registrations.

Do you have a very gifted athlete that you are looking for a specific team make up? Are you looking for a specific type of coach for your son? Do you want to join a team that could go all the way to the National Championships in Orlando? LET US KNOW at smpopwarner@gmail.com SMPW is putting together two types of teams in 2019; Championship format and Developmental format.

NO OTHER YOUTH FOOTBALL LEAGUE DOES A BETTER JOB THAN SMPW IN PREPARING PLAYERS FOR THE NEXT LEVEL OF PLAY!

ARE YOU READY FOR FLEX FOOTBALL?

Looking for more football after the season ends but you are bored with Flag and 7 on 7? Would like something like Tackle but without the time commitment and without the contact? Would like to play more football but want to play other sports too? INTRODUCING FLEX Football.

9 on 9
Yes, we coach linemen!
Yes, we run the ball too!
All gear included and no fundraising for less than $200
Low time commitment - Play other sports at same time
Teach proper form and technique unlike Flag and 7 on 7.
Tackle without the tackle

More info on this website for registration by the end of October

R U READY FOR FLEX?

THIS...is SMPW Pop Warner

Don't be fooled in to committing to a new Snoop Dog program in MV before checking out the facts. Despite paid for ads by ex NFL players claiming to be an "ELITE" program, they have never coached one player, never fielded a team, never prepared any player for the next level, never done one background check on a coach, never won or lost a game. This "ELITE" program claims that Pop Warner is only for developing young players yet SMPW has helped over 7000 players prepare for HS Football. SMPW had 19 players listed on the home page that went on to college football last year alone and the "ELITE" program had zero. SMPW has over 23 years of proven success.
STILL the best pricing in OC youth sports - Tackle football starts at $100 and includes everything needed - all practice gear, two uniforms, latest technology helmet, shoulder pads, spirit pack, free week long camp and picture packet! NO ONE DOES THIS. Sign up now!
Refer friends to SMPW and earn up to $150.00 back!
Play games in ORANGE COUNTY vs. other leagues playing in LA each week
Practice and play games with players of same weight/age - Safety first
Play with friends you go to school with locally
NEW FOR 2019 - Adding a new additional division - 12 and Under ELITE Division with no weight restriction. This matches up with our 14 and Under Elite Division(formerly know as Varsity Unlimited) that was added last year that also has no weight restriction. We still have all the same divisions as last year as well.

SMPW Wins TWO Spring Championships in 4VERT

Congratulations to the 5/6 and 7/8 Eagles 7 on 7 teams for each taking 1st place in the 4VERT championships! SMPW had 2 of the 6 champions out of 75 teams! Great job SMPW!

AMP/SMPW

Santa Margarita Pop Warner Instagram

smpwOC

Meet Super Bowl Champion Sidney Jones tomorrow, April 6th from 11am to 2pm at SMPW registration at @1athleteschoice https://t.co/WhTIixGp1L

This Is SMPW CHEER!

AMP Youth Football BASELINE Testing for Safety

WHERE CHAMPIONS ARE MADE

"Santa Margarita Pop Warner has helped more youth athlete's to develop skills and earn starting roles in High School, College and the NFL than ANY other current youth football program in Orange County"