More troubles for Pop Warner

More parents and coaches are criticizing decisions by the Arizona Pop Warner Youth Football Federation board, claiming their children have been treated unfairly. Coaches from the South Association Suns, a Pee Wee division for players 9 through 12 years of age, said the federation forced them to forfeit two games after accusations they were using a player outside of their association boundaries.

Despite approving the team four times during the season, which started Sept. 9, the federation board deemed the player ineligible Oct. 16.

The forfeited games left the Suns with a 4-3 record and not eligible for the state playoffs. "They checked our team and their residency four times during the season and said the player was fine," Suns coach Tracy Walker said.

"They waited until we were 6-1 and getting ready for the playoffs to tell us." South Association officials tried to appeal the decisions last week after learning of the forfeits, but were denied, Walker said. Parents from the team planned to protest the decisions at a federation board meeting Monday, but found out the meeting had been canceled when they arrived.

Pop Warner, the largest youth football organization in the country, stipulates teams can only choose players from certain geographic regions. Each team has four residency waivers it can use to bring players outside its borders. Had they known the player was outside of their boundary, which the board first said he wasn't, the team would have used a waiver to put him on the team, Walker said.

"I didn't know where the kid lived," he said. "They put him in our (region). I didn't use the waiver because they said four times that he was on the right team.

" Following the decision, Walker said federation board president Diana Watson offered to send the team to play a game in California if he accepted the losses. Walker said the federation would pay an unspecified amount of money to help with the travel cost. "I wasn't going to take pity on the kids after what you (the board) did," he said.

"What's that say to kids? They (the board) make a mistake and don't admit it, but we get a trip to California?" This is the second complaint this week in which parents have complained federation board members have tried to cover up questionable decisions.

In both cases, coaches from the Grand Association in northwest Phoenix complained about South Association teams, which are located in south Phoenix. In the first game of the season, the Grand Association Kodiaks of the Junior Midget Division were given a loss despite a federation board official on the field calling the game a forfeit in the fourth quarter. The official said the opposing team, the South Mountain Jackrabbits, had not played all of its players, a long-standing Pop Warner rule.

Jackrabbits coach Mike Buckner said he was suspended for one week for not providing a play sheet before the fourth quarter, not because of allegedly cheating. "We had the proper play sheet, we just didn't have it at the proper time," he said. "It was nothing done intentionally.

" When contacted Tuesday, Norm Dowell, federation board vice president, said the board would not comment on the issue. Dowell did not respond to questions regarding complaints by Suns coaches and parents Wednesday.