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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 3, 2005 Taking the valley by storm Pop Warner football is blowing up locally thanks to co-founder Greg Reeser By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings ROGUE VALLEY POP WARNER co-founder and commissioner Greg Reeser talks to an Ashland Cubs’ player after a Mighty Mite game at Walter A. Phillips Field. Greg Reeser helped bring Pop Warner football to the Rogue Valley for his son, but continues to volunteer his time for a little boy whom he only met once. “I was at Ashland for a playoff game,” Reeser recalls, “and this tiny little kid comes up to me and says, ‘Excuse me sir, I just wanted to thank you for bringing us Pop Warner.’ I almost lost it right there. So that was it.” Reeser, 59, and fellow Ashland resident Ed Houton jump started Rogue Valley Pop Warner with four teams in 1996. As its 10th season winds down, the full-contact football league is now 33 teams strong and includes four divisions and three league championships. Two of those league titles will be determined Sunday at Spiegelberg Stadium — the Medford Raiders and Central Point Black Comets will square off at 11 a.m. in the Junior Pee Wee championship game, followed by the Pee Wee title tilt between the Medford Jets and the Medford Cowboys. Winners advance to next week’s state championships, where they will face their Willamette Valley League counterparts at Eugene’s Autzen Stadium. Reeser’s original plan was to give his son, Rocky Reeser, who graduated from Ashland High in 2004, and other Ashland football players an alternative to flag football. To do it, he needed to assemble at least four teams and raise enough money to pay for uniforms, pads and helmets. Reeser and company barely pulled it off — they assembled three Ashland teams and one Talent team, with Reeser paying for Talent’s equipment out of his own pocket — and RVPW was born, though not without its limitations. In the early days of the league teams played nine-man football, faced the same opponents multiple times throughout a season and employed ultra-simplified offensive and defensive schemes. ASHLAND BEARS’ cornerback Jared Cataldi brings down a ball carrier during a RVPW football game. “Pitch back to Jeff, pass to Rocky — that was one of our plays,” said Reeser. Now, only teams at the Mighty Mite level (ages 7 to 8) still play nine on nine, there are plenty of opponents to make up a full regular season and playoff schedule and coaches are installing offenses some high school teams would be proud of. Ashland’s Junior Pee Wee team (ages 8 to 11), which was eliminated by the Black Comets in Sunday’s semifinal round, has been coached for the past two years by former Ashland High quarterback Greg White, who employed over 50 offensive plays. One example: “I right 38 toss X fake reverse.” “I never thought about 10 years down the road when we were organizing, but I always expected it to be growing every year and improving every year, so it’s not a surprise,” Reeser said. Reeser, who acts as RVPW’s commissioner, refers to his work with Pop Warner football as the most recent of his three selfless acts (the first two were serving in the Vietnam war and raising his son). Finding time to run the league isn’t easy, since Reeser owns and operates several small businesses. One, an engraving enterprise, requires him to fly all over the region in his private airplane. Reeser still finds time to drop in on practices. During one Ashland Bears practice he gave a quick lesson on proper handoff technique, carefully demonstrating which arm goes up and which goes down during the exchange. He also handles announcing duties at Walter A. Phillips field, where Ashland’s three teams play their home games, and oversees the general operation of the league. As RVPW continues to grow, Reeser is excited about the possibilities. There are enough divisions for players ages 7 through 12 to play, but there’s potential for all those numbers to increase. While he’s not pushing for a take-over, Reeser says RVPW is ready and willing to handle the area middle school football programs if football becomes a budget cuts casualty. To that end, he points out, Pop Warner football has some distinct advantages over those programs: weight restrictions at each level, minimum play requirements and opportunities for more games plus postseason play, just to name a few. If that doesn’t happen, Reeser is content to be a part of bringing full-contact football to the youth of the Rogue Valley. “If you love the game and you want to play football, there’s nothing like it,” he said. “I didn’t have it when I was a kid. We are able to supply safety equipment and the helmets, the organization and whole, real games. It’s just huge.” Sports editor Joe Zavala can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 3020 or [email protected]. 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