Carson Youth Football Team Devastated After Pop Warner Reneges Its Super Bowl Bid

CARSON (CBSLA.com) — It was a dream come true for the Carson Ravens Division II Pop Warner football team.

Coach Marqus Rico and his players 9 to 12-years old earned an invitation to play in the 2016 Pop Warner Super Bowl in Orlando.

"Everybody wants to play on that platform. We have kids who look up to pros that have played on that platform before," Rico Said. "To them, this is the NFL. This is their Super Bowl. As a kid, you can't replace this until you get to college or the pros."

Over the course of four days the team raised money and 19 of the 21 players and their families booked flights and lodging at Disney World, coming to a total cost of over $20,000. Not an easy feat for the inner-city group.

"It's almost impossible. You know what I mean? Especially coming from the demographics we come from," Rico said

Then the bombshell. Just days before jumping on a plane, the team was informed that its invitation was revoked.

The confusion stems from which division the Ravens played in during the season.

All season the Ravens played as a Division II team, but they were bumped up to play Division I in the regional championship. They were set to play Division II again in Orlando.

A statement from Pop Warner reads:

National Championship policy prohibits a team to play down a division. We apologize for any miscommunication during the regional playoffs and for the disappointment of the team.

"What happened is unbelievably wrong," Maddie Bowers, of LA County Pop Warner said.  Regardless who's fault and I'm not going to get into whether it was our regional commissioner or national Pop Warner"

Pop Warner officials say they are working with Disney for a full refund on any resort costs and help with airfare costs.

That's still no comfort for the team.

So what's next?

"Probably Legal action and actually we're done with Pop Warner," Bowers said. "I think we're going to look heavily into forming our own organization."