Two teams from East Vancouver Pop Warner will travel to Florida for the Pop Warner Super Bowl Tournament.
The East Vancouver Venom Charcoal earned the regional title in the Pee Wee tournament for players ages 9 to 12 by beating the Spokane Valley Lions for the Division II regional crown. The Charcoal team will be one of eight teams competing for the Pee Wee Division II national title at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Kissimmee, Fla.
The teams participated Saturday in the Pacific Northwest North Division regional finals at Doc Harris Stadium in Camas.
The East Vancouver Venom Blue team lost in the Pee Wee Division III regional championship, but is going to Florida because Spokane North decided not to make the trip.
This was the first time that the local Greater Northwest Conference hosted the regional championships. Six games were played on Saturday at Doc Harris, with teams from Alaska and Idaho joining teams from Oregon and Washington.
Tony Asciutto, president of the Greater Northwest Conference, called hosting the regional tournament “a pretty big deal for our program.”
The local Pop Warner organization has been asking for several years to host a regional instead of sending teams to Santa Clara, Calif. He said the recent success of local teams — including several that have traveled to the Super Bowl tournament — helped the organization’s bid to host a regional.
“We were a small fish in a big pond, and now we’ve had some success,” Asciutto said.
The two Venom teams will be in Florida Dec. 5-9 and could play three games each in that span. Asciutto said it will cost each team about $50,000 to send 20 players and their coaches to Florida. East Vancouver Pop Warner is soliciting donations to help the teams get to Florida.
In addition to playing football, the teams will have the opportunity to attend a Pop Warner-only day at one of the Disney parks. The players are also required to attend daily study hall sessions to keep up on school work while in Florida.
Asciutto said the local Pop Warner organization has started discussing creating a travel fund and more consistent fundraising to support teams that compete in postseason events.
In addition to the cost of the trip, both teams needed new alternate jerseys to play in Florida. Catherine Souder, president of East Vancouver Venom Pop Warner, said the jerseys will cost $1,200. Souder said the teams have been raising funds throughout the season and that the teams are committed to the Florida trip.
To learn more about fundraising projects for the teams, visit eastvancouvervenom.com, or search for Venompw1 and Venompeeweeblue through gofundme.com.
