Pop Warner team starting in Roselle

Bob Carlson loved coaching several recreational suburban football leagues during the past decade, but one problem always nagged at his conscience.

"I'd ask about former players once they were in high school and I'd hear 'So-and-so isn't playing anymore because he couldn't keep up his grades,'" Carlson said.

That's why he sought to create a league that puts equal emphasis on academics and touchdowns. Starting next month, Carlson and a group of fellow coaches and community members will launch Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., football and cheerleading leagues in Roselle. The team will be called the Roselle Vikings.

Pop Warner is a national organization established in 1929 and requires all participants, who are age 7 to 16, to maintain a 2.0 grade point average. Teachers and administrators must also give permission for each child to participate.

"This is teaching kids at an early age that (academics) are a priority and that they need discipline outside of cheerleading or football" Carlson said.

The program also offers scholarships and prizes annually to student athletes who go above and beyond in the classroom. The local scholarship banquet traditionally happens each year in Lisle.

Carlson and the fellow Vikings founders are primarily Roselle residents, and they wanted to bring a team to their hometown. Carlson said the majority of students living in Roselle, Itasca and Medinah have traditionally joined nearby leagues in either Bloomingdale or Schaumburg.

"There was never a team in Roselle, and it was a good place to plant our seed," Carlson said.

Registration for the Roselle Vikings begins next month, with the football and cheerleading seasons starting in August. The teams will practice and play at Driscoll Catholic High School in Addison, but Carlson said the Vikings are trying to secure a Roselle location as soon as possible.

The Vikings will host a fundraiser on Dec. 27 to get the league off the ground. The event will be at Ballpark Sports Bar and Grill in Roselle and will feature an open bar, food, raffles and silent auctions.

Carlson said the community and local businesses have been very supportive so far.

"The feedback has been great," he said, "and everyone I talk to is really enthusiastic."