Powderpuff Football

Streaming flags, colored uniforms and cheering crowds were all present at this year’s Powderpuff Football, held this past Sunday, October 27, on the Library Quad.Open to all PEA students, Powderpuff allowed female students to participate in a game of flag football, a sport often associated with males, and encouraged other students to cheer them on, reversing common gender roles and providing an enjoyable change to the usual Sunday afternoon routine.Powderpuff Football, an annual event last held a few years ago, was on a brief hiatus until this year. Along with Speed Dating, Games Night and movies on the Quad, various events were created or brought back by the Student Activities Commission (SAC), now part of the Recreations Committee of Student Council. As a result, students walking down the paths on south side were greeted by the sight of girls taking the field while their fellow classmates cheered them on.Students felt that Powderpuff Football addressed matters surrounding gender equality in sports. “I understand it’s a step forward in breaking down gender barriers through having an all-girl flag football competition,” lower Alix Hunter said. “We probably wouldn’t have enough girls to play interscholastically, and there probably wouldn’t be girl football teams at other schools, so I appreciate the fact that Exeter’s giving female students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to play football this opportunity. ”“The event was a huge success. The girls on both teams were enthusiastic and determined to win,” coordinator upper Margaret Zhu said. “With the help of football players who coached, refereed and cheered both sides on, the plays and the game went very smoothly.”Upper Clara Hobbie, another coordinator of Powderpuff, agreed. “Moxie scraped in a second goal in the last couple minutes of the game. It got pretty intense at some parts, ” Hobbie said. “It was a great way to blow off steam on a sunny fall afternoon.”The two teams who participated in the competition included players on the varsity field hockey team (Moxie) and a group of girls in Dunbar (known as the BriiiQ Squad). Moxie, the winners of the game, walked away with an Orange Leaf gift card for the whole team.“It was a really fun event that we were surprised only two teams out of the entire student body took part in, ” upper Courtney Henrich, a competitor on the winning team, said. “I know that a lot of my friends back home have Powderpuff on homecoming weekend and basically the whole school comes to support them, so for there only being a handful of spectators [at Powderpuff] was a little discouraging.”“However, that had little influence on the competition’s intensity. Everyone got really into it, especially toward the end, ” she said. “I hope we continue this tradition and more participate next year as it was the highlight of my weekend. ”Overall, participants enjoyed Powderpuff Football and the unusual opportunities it provided for the student body. “Since it was such a success, StuCo and I are looking forward for it being an annual event, ” Zhu said.Hobbie agreed. “I hope StuCo will do this again next year, and I hope there is more participation because I think everyone who played had a blast. ”