It was halftime at the 2025 Pop Warner Super Bowl at the Mecklenburg County Sportsplex in Charlotte, North Carolina. The scrappy band of 25 New Haven Steelers were down a mere six points to mighty NEO Flight Football out of Akron, Ohio, the reigning national champs. To hear Coach Garrett Barros tell it, there was belief in the locker room. “We told the kids, ‘we’re still in this, we can do this,’” he said in a phone interview from Charlotte. In the end, it was not to be, with the Steelers falling 32-20 during last Sunday’s fame. Ultimately, the New Haven team finished the tournament ranked eighth in the nation. “They showed grit, heart, and determination, and that belief that they could win the game,” he recalled, of the 12- and 13-year olds. “We had the momentum but we ran out of time.” The Pop Warner Super Bowl consists of 88 teams from eight Pop Warner Regions across the country playing in six age-based classifications. In order to advance, a team has to win its league championship as well as a regional championship. The Steelers did just that, and in a season rife with adversity. They battled the elements, a lack of federal funding, and a home field in a public housing complex that had opponents refusing to play without police and security. Just to get to the national championships, they soldiered into the community, finding support at the Yale-Harvard game, through a GoFundMe campaign, as well as from other donors coming through. Barros expressed particular gratitude to the Board of Alders Black and Hispanic Caucus. “We had a few kids whose families couldn’t afford to pay for them to go, and they gave $2,500 for those kids, and that was a big plus for us,” he said. All that aside, “once we got to the game, it was business,” said wide receiver and linebacker LJ Howard, a 7th grader at Ross/Woodward School. He recalled the stinging tackle he made after the Akron team tried a screen pass, and a kick he almost returned for a touchdown. “We played hard, but we coulda did better.” D’Arie Sheats, a corner and wingback, who’s in the 7th grade at ESUMS, had another take. “We showed we could compete with the best,” he said. New Haven Steelers during study hall. Courtesy Shatea Threadgill. Before the consolation game on Wednesday, the players spent time with their families, many of whom had traveled down with their sons, did film study of their opponent, and went through light practices. There was also an hour of study hall each morning. That’s consistent with the Pop Warner requirement that players maintain a 2.0 GPA in order to participate. Of the 25 kids on the Steelers, “25 out of 25 are scholar students,” according to Shatea Threadgill, team mom. There are also safety measures mandated by the organization, like reducing contact to 25 percent of practice time; banning full-speed, head-on tackling and blocking drills; and eliminating kickoffs for the youngest divisions. The consolation game was “lackluster,” said Barros. “Just made a lot of mistakes that we shouldn’t have,” LJ added. Still, said LJ, having watched the play of other teams, “it made me want to be better, work harder to be better.” That wasn’t the only benefit. “Now they understand that they can compete at a national level, and I think we proved that not just to ourselves and, even with New Haven not necessarily known for producing standout football players, to some of the teams here,” said Barros, referring to another coach who praised their play. There were also positives away from the gridiron. “We had a kid on the team, he was very shy to begin with,” Barros said. “Ever since he’s been with us, he’s shown a different personality and his parents thanked us.” He and his coaches took great pride from that. “We try to bring everyone in so everyone belongs.” The New Haven Steelers family, at ACC championship game at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 6. Courtesy Shatea Threadgill. In the end, “it was a wonderful experience for everybody,” he said, thanking the community for its support. Jay Threadgill (#2) and Bryce Jones-Mack (#5) celebrating after Jay caught a touchdown pass. Courtesy Shatea Threadgill. The post Pop Warner Steelers Finish 8th In The Nation appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less