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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

March Crossword Key
March 6, 2024

Powder puff 2013: how to play positively and keep it classy

Powder+puff+2013%3A+how+to+play+positively+and+keep+it+classy

Screen Shot 2013-03-17 at 1.14.50 AM A senior girl tackles a junior girl into the dirt, pulling her hair and stomping on her face. She gets possession of the football and jumps up to run for the touchdown. She makes it and begins her victory dance, not noticing that the girl she pummeled is crying into the ground with a broken nose.

This has been the precedent set at PHS, but we can do better.

The powder puff football game is a tradition that has “been an institution since before I came here in 1979,” principal Rich Kitchens said. The way the game works is that the senior girls play against the junior girls in a game of football. Originally, it was part of Homecoming week and took place at Witter Field during lunch or after school. According to Kitchens, the game always drew a pretty big crowd, but it began getting too physical and as a result girls started getting hurt. Because there was no conditioning, practice, or coaches, the school decided it could not be encouraging this game with no preparation or supervision. The school decided to stop sponsoring powder puff. After that it was not associated with the school but still continued secretly every year.

“Moving the game off campus was a double edged sword,” Kitchens said. “By putting it off campus we lost whatever control we had. As a result, the game has gotten really nasty in the past 8-10 years.”

Last year was the first year in a very long time, at least since the ‘70s, that the game did not take place. It was stopped because a group of senior girls from 2012 said the tradition was derogatory towards women and spearheaded a movement for it to not take place. While I understand their argument, I think it’s a shame we did not get to play last year because the game does not have to have to be “all or nothing.” It does not have to either be brutal or terminated altogether. Those are not the only options.

This year I think we should reinvent the powder puff, but without the violent and derogatory aspect of the game. Schools around the Bay Area, like Deer Valley High, have their own school sponsored powder puff game. Also Bishop O’Dowd competed against St. Mary’s in October of last year in a powder puff football game to support breast cancer awareness. These schools are not only running functioning games, but also doing it with a purpose. I do not think it would be that different or difficult for photo-1 copy 2Piedmont to host our own powder puff in a clean and classy manner. While I understand why the school may not sponsor the game, since they would be forced to implement unnecessary rules and be held liable, I think the junior and senior grades can orchestrate the game ourselves to be more civilized than it has been in the past. We’re old enough and mature enough to adopt the responsibility of keeping the game safe. It’s now the duty of the senior girls to set the tone for powder puff this year.

I have heard stories of girls saying and doing horrible things to each other with guys egging them on from the sideline. This of course benefits no one and only adds to a negative atmosphere and hostility at our school. I do think there is some good fun that can come out of a grade competition and it can be enjoyed in an afternoon of girls’ football. If the guys can have their softball game, which is never raked with scandal, so can we.

We possess the power to step up and change any tradition at PHS any time we want to, we just have to do it. I think this is a perfect opportunity to reinvent the game because having no game whatsoever last year has already broken the legacy.

The senior girls can show some class and have a game where we play just for fun. A game for the purpose of bonding, class spirit, and vying for the title of “the best grade”. One option is to not even invite the boys to take out the sidelines pressure aspect. It is a fun idea for a final bonding activity that sadly over the years has been destroyed by the heavy alcohol influence and competitive nature in place at PHS. I encourage 2013 and 2014 to have the game this year, but play in a respectable manner.

All we have to do is change the expectations. Senior girls can make the game about bragging rights and the rivalry of seniors versus juniors. One of the best parts of senior year is the feeling of finally being the oldest. We’ve earned the right to have events like Senior Week, Prom, and Senior Tea, while also getting to play pranks, ditch school, and get away with goofing off. Let’s take part in one more senior right, but in a way that will not taint the rest of our senior year. We can do better.

 

 

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