Steve Strawbridge, a Philly native, is returning home to be the new Pop Warner CEO
Strawbridge, who worked in merchandising for the Eagles for over a decade, hopes to use the connections he’s built over years in pro football to inspire more young people to play Pop Warner.
Steve Strawbridge, the new CEO of Pop Warner, never played Pop Warner football himself.
The Philly native was too short, so he chose baseball instead and played for several years. As an adult, he coached his sons’ youth baseball teams. That experience helped him instill a lifelong love of youth sports, which brought him to Pop Warner after nearly three decades in pro football.
“I coached my kids all across the board,” Strawbridge told The Inquirer. “The coaching experience is — there’s nothing that beats it as a dad. Once the kids grew out of it, I kept coaching. I just love coaching kids. To me, it’s the fundamentals, and football is the ultimate team sport. You all have to work together."
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Pop Warner was founded in Philadelphia in 1929 by Joseph Tomlin, and has grown into the nation’s largest youth football organization. A number of current NFL players got their start in Pop Warner football, including reigning MVP Josh Allen. Pop Warner is headquartered in Langhorne, and the Liberty Youth Athletic Association, based in Drexel Hill, runs its football and cheerleading leagues through Pop Warner.
But before Strawbridge made his way to Pop Warner, he worked for the Eagles for more than a decade, all in merchandising. Strawbridge grew up a massive Eagles and Phillies fan, and after graduating from college, he interviewed for a job with the Phillies, which he ultimately didn’t get.
But he did connect with Scott O’Neil, now the president of LIV Golf who was working for the Eagles at the time. In his second interview, he met with owner Jeffery Lurie, who had bought the team just six months earlier in May 1994.
“I said, ‘Let’s do merchandise,’” Strawbridge said. “Let’s do merchandise sponsorship, things that they weren’t doing back then. [Lurie] said, ‘Let’s try it.’ Twelve years later, it was one of the best experiences ever to be able to go to work and enjoy work and to be there and looking forward to going. I love football. I love being part of the team. I thought, when I left the Eagles to go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I thought it could never get better than the Eagles.”
But he ultimately moved on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, first in merchandising and later as the chief administrative officer. Now, he’s returning home to Philadelphia, and hopes to use the connections he’s built over years in pro football to inspire more young people to play Pop Warner.
During Thursday and Friday’s Pop Warner region meetings, Strawbridge surprised the attendees with an appearance from Eagles legend Harold Carmichael, and he plans to continue to find ways bridge the professionals and Pop Warner players through podcasting, special appearances, and more.
Strawbridge also hopes to capitalize on the growth of women’s flag football, especially in Pennsylvania, where the Eagles have seen massive success with a local flag football league and the PIAA sanctioned girls’ flag football as a sport in September. Currently, the main pathway for girls to be involved with Pop Warner is through cheerleading, and Pop Warner is hoping to change that.
“Pop Warner has a long history within the region,” Strawbridge said. “It was founded, obviously, here outside of Philadelphia. That Philadelphia toughness, East Coast mentality, the pride. Philadelphia sends a number of teams to the championships, cheerleading championships, and the [Pop Warner] Super Bowl each year. There’s that pride behind wanting to be represent Philadelphia out there.”