CONCORD, N.C. — It's a big day for the Weddington Titans as the Pop Warner football team faces off in the organization's mid-south championship Saturday morning.
"We're very excited about it," Head Coach Eric Gibbs told WCNC Charlotte. "We have a great team that's had a great season. Great parents and we're excited about the opportunity to play tomorrow."
Gibbs said the journey to the championship was especially fun this season as the team returned for its first full season following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Titans Football Commissioner Michael Newman explained that putting the kids first was the most important part of the coming back for this season.
"We want to provide a platform for every child to have an opportunity to play football," he said. "We do combines, we do evaluations just so we can see where the kids are at on the team. So you're not going to come and get evaluated to see if you can even make a pop on the team. We don't cut anybody who wants to play."
As one of the largest youth football organizations in the world, Pop Warner has three divisions its teams can play in. This team is Division two, and Saturday's game marks the third team from Pop Warner and CWA to make it to this level.
"This is the Super Bowl," Newman said.
He said the best part of this job is to watch kids grow as players and as people.
"It's enjoyable to watch the kids grow, to watch them develop to watch them now come back," Newman said. "It's been great. We wouldn't be where we are without the help of the community."
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