Sports
West Baltimore's Liberty Chargers Win Regional Title, Head to Pop Warner National Championship
The Liberty Chargers, a first-year Pop Warner team of 9- and 10-year-olds from West Baltimore, beat Syracuse's Thornden Park Bulldogs 38-7 to win the Eastern Regional Division 2 championship and advance to next month's national tournament in Charlotte. The team is now fundraising $10,000-$12,000 to cover travel costs.
West Baltimore's Liberty Chargers are bound for Charlotte, N.C., next month to compete for a Pop Warner national championship after a dominant 38-7 victory over the Syracuse, N.Y.-based Thornden Park Bulldogs in the Eastern Regional Division 2 final.
The win capped a remarkable debut season for the Chargers, a team of 9- and 10-year-olds playing together for the first time.
"It was surreal," coach Delontai Bruton said. "This was Year One for us, so to even be here was a blessing. But to conquer it and win, it feels so much better."
Bruton said his players are still absorbing the magnitude of their achievement.
"The boys were so shocked and amazed. Honestly, our kids are so fresh into football. They just play. They don't really know as much as they should right now about Pop Warner and the league and all that," he said. "They all just living in bliss. All they understand is, if they win, they can keep on playing and winning and keep on getting championship trophies."
Kim Trueheart, a longtime Baltimore youth advocate who helps coordinate the city's Pop Warner program, praised the team and its coaches.
"I am extremely proud of these Baltimore City young men and the adults who stepped up to coach them," she told The Brew.
The Chargers' season is not over for the organization: two other teams, in the 12-year-old and 14-year-old age groups, are still competing at the regional level.
"This season is not over as we still have two teams vying for the national championship," Trueheart said.
Between now and December, the 9-and-under squad will maintain its three-practices-a-week schedule while Bruton and Trueheart seek financial support. Bruton estimates the trip to North Carolina will cost $10,000 to $12,000 to transport, house and feed the team and some assistant coaches. He said he has only $2,000 to $3,000 on hand.
"We're just trying to fundraise as best we can, but it has to be from the city at large," Bruton said. "We're in a low-income neighborhood."
To raise the team's profile, Bruton plans to bring some players in helmets and jerseys to M&T Bank Stadium for the Baltimore Ravens' night game against the Los Angeles Chargers, who are 0-8 this season. Baltimore's Chargers, by contrast, are 11-1.
"Our record is 11-1," Bruton noted.
Those interested in supporting the team can find information on Instagram at supercharged_9u or on Kim Trueheart's Facebook page.