Picture this: Hair flying in the wind, the faint thunder that comes with junior and senior girls crashing into each other and grass stains in places that grass stains have never ventured before. This is the game of Powder Puff. Powder Puff is essentially football for the ladies. It is played by junior and senior girls during Homecoming week. The girls that play usually come from many a social group, but they all have one thing in common – they are in it to win it.

To the uninformed, the concept of a Powder Puff game could be strange and foreign, so what exactly is Powder Puff? Elijah Perine, senior and varsity football player, explained, “It’s a bunch of girls running around having fun in the whole spirit of Homestead. It’s supposed to be a fun environment.”

The rules to the game are relatively simple. The teams are assigned by grade, and the positions by skill and desire, respectively. Sarah Jorgensen, junior, explained, “[Teams are] assigned first by juniors vs seniors, and then at practice we decide who’s on offense and who’s on defense.”

Likewise, positions are decided upon in a similar fashion, but with the grade component taken out of the mix. Lauren Padgett, junior, explained, “You sign up, and then when you get to the practices, you ask for a position or get signed up for a position and everything after that is based on skill.”

Two coaches directed the teams: Mr. Sean Crider,  coached the junior team, and Mr. Jared Daigle, coached the senior team. In order to snatch first dibs on a coach, a team must undergo a simple process. Mr. Crider, Powder Puff coach, explained, “The girls usually pick who they want to coach their teams by asking random teachers or asking one of the faculty members that the athletic director has asked to volunteer to coach. This year the juniors asked me to coach them first, so I chose to go with them.”

Despite seeming like a “silly” girl version of football to many, the purposes of Powder Puff are both important and often overlooked. Elizabeth Huskin, a junior and a spectator, stated, “I think it’s just part of Homecoming week, and it’s to pump everyone up for the big game on Friday. Also, it’s fun for the girls to play football.”

In addition, Lauren Padgett, junior, said, “The guys get the Homecoming game, and since the girls can’t do anything for the Homecoming game except to watch it, [Powder Puff] is one way for the girls to participate and have people watch us rather than just the varsity boys sports that they usually watch.”

Along with the fact that it presents a vital way to shine the limelight on girls sports, Powder Puff is also just a great source of entertainment to many. While Mckenna Stern, senior, could not participate in Powder Puff because she’s too busy, she shared, “My favorite part [of Powder Puff] is seeing all the juniors and seniors having a really intense match against each other.”

In fact, many of the athletes have been waiting since freshman year in order to play. Jorgensen shared, “I’m looking forward to just being able to play for the first time, to get to experience what it’s like. And I’d like to show Homestead that me and my team are pretty good and we want to get Homestead excited for the game.”

Of course, there is also the fierce competition between the juniors and seniors during the Powder Puff game. Elijah Perine, senior, remarked, “Seniors are always supposed to win.” McKenna Stern, senior, mirrored this opinion: “I think the seniors will totally win this year.”

As expected, the juniors opposed this perspective. Jorgensen explained, “I think we have a pretty good chance at beating the seniors this year, even with the rigged refs, since we have some pretty fast and strong girls this year in our grade.”

Padgett supported this viewpoint, saying, “I personally think we’ll do really well against the seniors. We have a really athletic grade, so that will help us a lot during the game.”

But, as always, this game is meant primarily to have fun and build friendships. Erin Reiels, senior, shared, “For the juniors, have fun. It’s not the Olympics. We’re doing it for fun.”

Similarly, Mr. Crider said, “My tip for the seniors is do not run too slow, and wear goggles because you might get dust in your eyes. But in all seriousness, I really just hope all the girls have fun and carry the tradition of a nice, clean, injury-free game.”