The game has officially been canceled due to high injury rates.
“We had a lot of injuries in the last six years. I am really worried about the safety of our girls,” Jimmy Hoffman said, “One, they do not wear protective equipment. The compromise I am willing to make is to make it to all seniors 7 on 7, passing only, it is a safer option and I think it will be really fun.”
The annual Powder Puff game is an event for high school girls to play a game of football with people they normally would not talk to. It also is a great way to bring the community together when they come out and watch the seniors and freshmen play the juniors and sophomores.
“I have met a lot of freshmen I would not have known otherwise,” Libby Hatcher said.
Hatcher is a senior and has played PowderPuff all through high school. She loves experiencing playing football and learning the sport.
The event that has been played for over a decade is being canceled for girls 9th grade through 11th grade, causing an unfair compromise for the current underclassman.
“I don’t understand how the seniors will get any less injuries than any of us younger girls who want to play,” Heidi Halgren said.
This causes a bigger divide between grades too, in a game that once brought them together.
Schools all over the country have a Powder Puff and with it being a physical activity there will be a risk of injury. Waivers are commonly signed by students and guardians, and the girls know what they are signing up to do to avoid any conflict surrounding these injuries.
“I am sad it is canceled, ” Hatcher said. “I was really excited to play, we would have had a good team this year. I understand why they are canceling it because there were a lot of injuries, but they could just make it stricter. Better calls could have prevented the injuries.”
Colleen Bevaqua, teacher at Lakeland High School, has taken over running PowderPuff for around 15 years.
She kept doing it because she loved when the girls would come to her and say it was their favorite event of the year. This had been a fundraiser for the Disabled American Veterans.
“It’s disappointing, but I understand,” Bevaqua said. “It’s just unfortunate that the society we live in right now. You have to be super careful that people don’t come after you even if they sign a form and they know the dangers of playing a sport like PowderPuff.”
