After a year-long hiatus from Powderpuff Football, students have worked with principal Dr. Timothy Flynn to bring back the popular fundraising event this November.
School administrators decided to pause this tradition in the winter of 2022 to ensure the safety of students after a series of injuries stacked up in previous Powderpuff games. Dr. Flynn observed that the games were starting to be played in a dangerous way for its participants, so he made a proactive decision on behalf of student safety.
“We had a year where it was very intense, and we had some injuries,” Dr. Flynn said. “So, we had do a pause. When you play a sport that you don’t typically play, you’re using muscles, and you’re doing actions that you don’t typically do, even if you’re athletic.”
At the beginning of October, SCA senior Eden Dombek approached Dr. Flynn about the potential of reinstating the game this year. Dombek voiced that many female students felt as though the removal of this tradition took away the opportunity to play a game that is not traditionally a female sport.
Dombek argued that multiple schools in other states, like Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, have adopted women’s flag football as a varsity sport. Dombek hoped that in some way the sport could be offered at Stone Bridge as well.
“[Powderpuff] gives girls a chance to show more of their athletic abilities,” Dombek said. “And it creates a fun competition between the upperclassman grades.”
Dr. Flynn acknowledged that there were other ways the school could raise money for breast cancer awareness. However, Dr. Flynn was open to the suggestion of Powderpuff’s reinstatement as long as SCA and DECA met certain expectations. Dr. Flynn made it clear that there needs to be trained referees that can oversee the game in order to guarantee a fair and safe game.
“You may think that [trained referees] are not needed for this event, because it’s supposed to be just fun,” Dr. Flynn said. “That’s not what happens out there. That’s not what I witnessed. We have to be responsible.”
Dombek successfully created a plan for Dr. Flynn and the athletic team that assures appropriate measures will be taken. Dr. Flynn has no doubts that the school can meet these expectations, and expects that the game this year will be a success.
The response from the student body, and especially seniors, has been overwhelmingly positive; they are thrilled to be able to end their high school career with such a highly anticipated event.
“We’ve been watching this game be played for years, but we didn’t get it our junior year,” senior Mia Jacobson said. “So, we have even more fuel to destroy the juniors this year.”
