A Tackled Tradition

Prom, open lunch for seniors, three art classes and convenient parking are a few of the things that most of the upperclassmen here at East look forward to,  aside from the guaranteed ability to call seniority over the lesser sophomores and freshman.

Of all of these perks we gain for surviving the first few years of East, the one I looked forward to the most– yes, even more than not having to park in the sophomore lot — was Powderpuff.

For those who are unaware, Powderpuff is football for girls, and here at East it has historically been the junior girls versus the senior girls in a “touch,” which usually ends up being tackle, football game. This is not exclusive to East. Other Shawnee Mission Schools as well as out of district schools have a similar activity for their upperclassman girls.

Usually the requirements to participate are: you are female, junior or senior, you attend the practices and don’t hurt each other too badly. That was all you needed to be on a team and to play in the games. You don’t even need an extensive knowledge of the game of football.

Last year Powderpuff became exclusively for cheer and drill teams, for reasons that are still unclear to me.

To my dad, who is, in the best way possible, obsessed with football but left without a boy he can live vicariously through, I have always been the “one who should have played football.” Ever since I learned what Powderpuff was from my babysitter in first grade, I wanted to play to prove that I too could play football.

I had more reasons for wanting to play besides proving a point. High school is stressful and Powderpuff would be an outlet for some stress release. Very rarely are girls able to tackle each other to the ground without a trip to the SRO office. I’ve also been involved in sports and I’ve gone to State more times as a track athlete than our football team has, so I would think I’m fairly athletic and could be a star Powderpuff player, although my catching ability may be called into question.

Aside from my personal issues, I can’t seem to grasp why all of a sudden more than 90 percent of East upperclassman girls are no longer able to play Powderpuff. Maybe it’s organization, inability to plan. Or is it simply reinforcing the stereotype of  football players teaching the cheerleaders and dancers how to do more than just wave pom poms.

Does East really want to be the school where if you want to be part of something you have to a cheerleader, dancer or football player? It seems unusual for a school so focused on being so open and friendly, unless maybe it was the case of egos and clichés.

Girls who can cheer and dance are far from unathletic but it doesn’t give them superiority, true. I can’t do back handspring or dance– at all.  Being able to coordinate the school song with kicks and flips, while impressive, doesn’t mean they can throw a spiral any better than a softball pitcher. A basketball player might take a hit better than flyer. So many of the school’s best athletes who have school records, state titles and college careers ahead of them, as well as all the girls who just want to be active and have some fun are cut out of trying their hand at football, which they will most likely never play.

Maybe the changes last year are because of logistical issues of time, team size and t-shirt design. It only takes a few minutes and a series of mouse clicks to make a group on Facebook and one person to lay out the schedule and decide on a Comfort Colors t-shirt. It might take more work than just googling the cheer and drill team rosters, but it’s easier than most homework assignments.

As a senior, it’s too late now for me to get a chance to play football, and while I may hold a grudge for a while, maybe something will change. For now I can support the girls who are playing this year, because along with tackling each other they are playing to collect cans for charity. Possibly next year there will be another change, and more girls will have the chance to beat down on each other in the name of sports.