Messenger - Vol. 4, No. 3, Page 16 1995 Alumni Profile - The Commish Football has been a recurrent theme in Ron Dilatush's life. A first-team, All-American football player at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School in New Jersey, he was recruited to play football at the University of Delaware. However, once he settled in on campus, Dilatush, Delaware '82, elected to play baseball, lettering for the Blue Hens. "I enjoyed playing football, but I guess I just wanted a break," Dilatush recalls. "Baseball was a sport that I played since I was a kid. It was a great experience playing at Delaware, but I have to laugh when I think about how things turned out." Last August, Dilatush, who lives in Yardley, Pa., was named the national football commissioner of the Pop Warner Little Scholars, a national youth football, flag football and cheerleading organization. He oversees approximately 4,200 tackle football teams and 632 flag football teams in the United States, Mexico and Japan. Although he had hoped to make a career in sports television or sports marketing after graduation, Dilatush instead teamed up with his father selling financial services for 10 years with The Prudential. Actively involved in youth sports and other community organizations with his three children, Dilatush began networking with youth sports people across the country. Ultimately, Dick Case, the executive director of USA Baseball, gave Dilatush's name to the Pop Warner organization in the summer of 1994. Pop Warner football began in 1929 when the owner of a new factory in Northeast Philadelphia enlisted the aid of a young friend, Joseph Tomlin, to solve a recurring problem. The factory's huge, floor-to- ceiling windows were being shattered-100 broken windows in just two months-by teenagers hurling stones from a nearby vacant lot. Tomlin suggested that building owners fund an athletic program for the young teenagers. Fall was approaching, so football seemed a logical sport to begin the new project. By 1933, the league had expanded to 16 teams and Pop Warner, a legendary coach at Temple University, became a regular motivational speaker at the league's football banquets. In appreciation of his support, the fledgling youth program was named the Pop Warner Conference. Today, there are 225,000 children participating in eight different age/weight classifications with more than 25,000 adult volunteers. "My job is to work with our eight regions nationally and administer tackle and flag football, to help interpret our rules and to work with our adult volunteers," says Dilatush. "I help recruit new leagues into our organization and help set up our annual national championship games. This year, the games and banquets will be held at Disney World." Two of his biggest challenges are the issues of safety and cost. "With the age and weight limits plus the use of good equipment, there's a low incidence of injury," says Dilatush. "We're working with national sponsors to try to drive down the cost of equipment, which is one of the greatest obstacles to adding more leagues." Academic excellence is another competition integral to the Pop Warner organization. Being named an All-American scholar is a coveted honor for any Pop Warner player or cheerleader. "Kids must be doing decently in school, or improving as a result of their participation, to play in our leagues," says Dilatush. "We have an annual banquet honoring our top scholar-athletes each year. We feel very strongly about encouraging kids to do better in school and support the concept of academics and athletics going hand-in-hand." -Terry Conway