Powderpuff continues tradition
October 5, 2015
Andrew Lee, head couch of the white powder puff football team, holds up various signs to inform his players of the designated play.
Standing on the sidlines, girls from the white powder puff football team cheer on their teammates during the starting kickoff of the game.
_____ gains possension of the ball and sprints for the end zone.
Guys on the powder puff cheer squad cheer on the powder puff football players during the initial kickoff to start the game.
Robin Burton catches the ball during practice before the powder puff football game at Bishop Stadium.
Girls on opposing powder puff football teams set up for the next play.
Tessa Irvine and Kaitlyn French practice catching the ball before the the powder puff football game at Bishop Stadium.
With a slight chill in the air, cheerleaders laughed as they flew in the air, hoping to perfect their routine as football players smudged black war paint on their excited faces. All were ready for the homecoming tradition of Powderpuff cheerleading and football.
“I just think it’s hilarious and fun to be out and having students learn a new skill and just have fun working with people that they may not normally work with and just for them to show an interest and to kind of step out of what they’re familiar with and give me their best,” white team coach and assistant Tribe sponsor Andrew Lee said.
First of the powderpuff festivities came the girls’ flag-football game. The two teams, white and blue, practiced up to five times the week leading up to the Wednesday game at Bishop Stadium where the field was shortened by 20 yards for them.
“I’m excited,” senior white team member Emma Devane said before the game. “I wish I would have played it my junior year, but I’m super excited to see what it’s like and have a lot of fun with it.”
In the first quarter, it seemed like a tight match as both teams quickly scored and tied the game at 6-6. But that evenly matched game was quickly controlled by the blue team in the second quarter with junior Chelsey Henry scoring multiple touchdowns, bringing the score to 18-6.
“It was awesome,” Henry said. “Very pumping up and energizing, I guess you could say, just knowing that I was going to get a touchdown even though it was really tiring.”
During halftime, the senior boys in Powderpuff cheer took the field. After weeks of preparation and lessons from the actual MHS cheer team, the Powderpuff cheerleaders learned how to not only do the dances, but also perform them.
“It was not easy, it took a lot of time,” senior Bre Harrison said. “But hey, they pulled it off and did really good. It was difficult teaching them to perform.”
Doing stunts, dances and performing was a challenge compared to the boys’ typical days.
“It’s a little different,” senior Darien Stokes said. “It definitely stretched my comfort zone a little bit.”
As halftime came to a close, the girls retook the field.
“Our team just stayed positive,” Henry said. “We really worked together as a team and came together to win.”
Despite the blue team’s 30-12 win, not all was good as reports of hair pulling, elbowing, grabbing and choking came from both teams.
“There was a little bit of communication between the two teams that wasn’t so positive,” sophomore white team member Kaitlyn French said, “but other than that, I mean, it’s a game, so it was something to have fun with.”
And that fun continued into the pep rally the following Friday when the Powderpuff cheerleaders took the floor as the closing event where they were greeted with laughter and cheers from their waiting audience.
“It was a great team building experience,” senior Cole Gritton said. “I really enjoyed being apart of it.”
