On Friday, November 15th, after an exciting afternoon of playing, cheering and applauding, the last Powder Puff game ended 6-0, with the victory of the Seniors by just one touchdown. During the event, students from all grades of Coventry High School took part in the games, either cheerleading or playing, and even cheering for their teams in the stands, wrapped in blankets and applauding in spite of the cold.
On Friday, November 15th, after an exciting afternoon of playing, cheering and applauding, the last Powder Puff game ended 6-0, with the victory of the Seniors by just one touchdown. During the event, students from all grades of Coventry High School took part in the games, either cheerleading or playing, and even cheering for their teams in the stands, wrapped in blankets and applauding in spite of the cold.
The Powder Puff football games are a series of flag football games in which the teams are formed solely by female students, and the cheerleaders are male students. Although the rules are mostly the same as regular football, flag football requires players to rip off one of the three flags that hang from the player’s belt, rather than tackling them to get the ball, and once it hits the ground the play ends. In addition, instead of two halves of thirty minutes divided in quarters of 15 minutes, the games have 20-minute halves.
Other than that, the field, the plays, the players and their positions and, in the cheerleader’s case, the choreographies, were all the same. Therefore, in order to get ready for the games, the students have had practices since October, not only during Academic Lab, which always proves to be an effort, but also after school several times a week. No matter the weather, or their availability, both players and cheerleaders made the most of their time practicing and that was distinctly reflected during the games. The job of the coaches of all the teams must also be mentioned and highlighted, for they had a big role in Powder Puff’s success and they greatly helped with their team’s motivation.
The games began with the presentation of the first two teams that would strive for a place in the final: Freshmen and Juniors. Once the national anthem had been beautifully sung and the teams had put their mouthguards in and gotten in their positions, it was decided that the freshmen would start with offense, and the game began just as scheduled, at five in the afternoon.
It was a very intense game, and both teams were very determined to win but, in the end, the victory was for the juniors. During halftime, the spectators, the players, and the coaches had the chance to observe the teams’ cheerleading routines, which had a lot of enthusiasm and definitely played a part in lifting their team’s spirit’s up.
The second game of the evening was just as exciting and it was between the seniors and sophomores, who did their best in spite of the weather. At this point in the evening, most people were shivering, trying to shield themselves with blankets from the cold breeze and had spent all their savings in hand warmers. In spite of that the spectators, who were mostly students from the high school, would not cease to applaud both the players and the cheerleaders even though most could barely move or feel their hands anymore, which shows enormous unconditional support.
The seniors won and the final game of the Powder Puff football took place between them and the juniors without further delay. It was a very exciting and entertaining game but, unfortunately, due to the cold weather, it only lasted fifteen minutes and there were no halftimes. The final result was 6-0 and, although it was hard-fought, it was a senior’s victory.
Coaches, players, cheerleaders, and spectators were very happy with the games and the effort of the participants, hence future Powder Puff football games are expected and looked forward to.
A high school is not only classes and a building. What makes up its identity is its spirit, its students.
The Powder Puff games show the feeling of unity that the school has, and the commitment of the students is proof that with enthusiasm, anything is possible.
Even playing football without feeling your toes.
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