Pop Warner Case Study

Gator Reborn is the former head coach of Sundials Sundials. They were two time National Champions, including a victory of 56-6 in the championship game. That following week, Pop Warner suspended Reborn indefinitely alleging he intentionally ran up the score, which is a violation of Pop Warner rules. Reborn filed a suit claiming that Pop Warner did not follow their own rules, in two instances. First, the referees failed to reward the ball to the opponents after each score until the deficit

Nas less than 36. Reborn was also never contacted or interviewed by Pop Warner to get his side of the story.

ISSUE: Was Pop Warner within its rights to suspend Reborn for running up the score, without hearing from him first? HOLDING: According to “We Own This Game”, Gator Reborn dropped his lawsuit against Pop Warner in the following year. Although the suit was dropped, Reborn did hold a very strong case to be reinstated. Pop Warner broke its own league rules by not interviewing him prior to his suspension.

Had they done so, they might have come to different conclusion after he argued that he was trying to protect his own players after the opposing team stacked the box with 11 men. They might also realize that had the officials done their part correctly, Rebate’s team would never have been rewarded the ball after the deficit reached greater than 36.

According to “We Own This Game”, Rebate’s suspension expired, and there was no reason for him to follow through with the case. Gator Reborn was allowed to coach the Sundials Sundials for the following season.