When George Wallace decided to start a Pop Warner Football program in Moultrie this year, he was not exactly flying blind.

He played Pop Warner football as a youngster living in California.

Now the image coordinator of the South Georgia Hawgs, Wallace wants to give Colquitt County youngsters a similar experience.

“Pop Warner football is awesome,” Wallace said.

With the blessing of Colquitt County football coach Rush Propst, the South Georgia Hawgs will hold a free Junior Packers mini-camp from 9 a.m.-noon today at Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

Youngsters ages 9-13 can take part. A barbecue lunch will be served to those who take part following the clinic.

Wallace plans to begin practices for three teams on Aug. 1. Games will begin in September against teams from Albany, Lee County and the Augusta area.

He plans a Pee Wee team, for ages 9-11 and 75-120 pounds; Junior Pee Wee, 8-10, 60-105 pounds; and Junior Midget, 10-12, 90-145 pounds. Some 13-year-olds can qualify for Junior Midget.

The teams will play games on Saturdays this fall.

The cost to register for Pop Warner Football is $75.

However, those who sign up will be given five $20 raffle tickets to help pay their registration fee.

The winning raffle ticket will get a seven-day vacation in Orlando plus $150 for gas. The second winning ticket will get a $350 gift certificate and the third ticket will get $100 in cash.

Wallace has enlisted a number of local sponsors to help with the purchase of equipment.

Among those agreeing to help get the program going are Mobley Plant, Mobley Gin, Oxley’s, Luke Strong and Son, Cox Auto Parts, Perfect Smiles, Crystal Pharmacy, Universal Forest Products, Cobb Funeral Chapel, Ameris and South Georgia Banking Co.

Walmart has agreed to help and Sonny’s Meats will donate.

Wallace began working in February to get Moultrie a Pop Warner program. He has attended several clinics and says he is now certified as an administrator and as trainer of coaches.

Wallace said players will be unable to play both Pop Warner Football and for the long-established Moultrie-Colquitt County Parks and Recreation program.

The recreation department’s James Kling said he was unsure how a Pop Warner football program would affect the department’s efforts.

“We don’t know how many kids they’re planning on taking,” Kling said. “We’ll have to wait and see. That’s all we can do.”

The recreation department program plays its games at the Knuck McCrary Complex and last year had 68 players 11-12 years old; 144 age 9-10; and 146 ages 7-8.

The numbers in the oldest group reflect mostly 11-year-olds. Most 12-year-olds are playing the middle school’s seventh-grade program, which has two teams.

Kling said the recreation department charges $45 per player for ages 9-12; $35 for ages 8 and older; and $30 for ages 5 and 6.

There are two Pop Warner leagues in Georgia.

The East Georgia Pop Warner Football League has 11 teams in the Augusta area.

With the addition of the South Georgia Hawgs, the South Georgia Pop Warner League will have five teams, including the Albany Falcons, the Albany Lions, the Albany Wolverines and the Lee County Warriors.

Wallace said the Pop Warner teams will run the same system used by the Colquitt County middle school and varsity programs.

“I see this as being a feeder program for the high school program,” Wallace said. “We’ll run the same systems so when they get to the high school, they’ll be used to it.”

Wallace has taken fliers to all Colquitt County schools encourage potential players to attend today’s mini-camp.

The team will hold registration on May 25 and 26 in front of Hibbett’s Sporting Goods near Walmart.

Those interested also can call Wallace at 589-9796.

According to its website, Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. (PWLS) is a non-profit organization that provides youth football and cheer and dance programs for participants in 42 states and several countries around the world.

Consisting of some 425,000 youngsters ages 5 to 16, Pop Warner is the largest youth football, cheer and dance program in the world.

Pop Warner was founded in 1929 and is the only youth football, cheerleading and dance organization that requires its participants to maintain academic standards.

Players must maintain a 2.0 or 70 average. According to the website, for those who do not maintain the 2.0/70 percent average, a Scholastic Eligibility Form is filled out by that child’s school and the child’s grades are monitored throughout the season.

Football teams play a seven- to nine-game schedule and at the end of the regular season, usually during the last week in October, Junior Peewee, Peewee, Junior Midget, Midget, Junior Bantam and Bantam teams can participate in playoffs.

Once a league champion has been decided and a team has won the right to participate in regional championships, all report cards are verified to ensure that all the players are academically eligible.

Those teams that win at the regional championships are invited to Disney’s Wide World of Sports to compete for a national championship in their division.