By Maria Riegel, Special Writer
South Brunswick High School hosted its 11th annual Powder Puff girl’s football tournament on Nov. 19 and raised roughly $4,000 for several charities, according to Student Council advisor Lauren Morris.
"We had a good turnout and a lot of spirit among the teams," Ms. Morris said.
According to Ms. Morris this year’s Powder Puff event had a total of around 300 student participants including players, student officers, spirit squad members, and coaches.
The first game played pitted the freshman class against the juniors with the juniors winning the match. Next, the sophomores and seniors played, leading to a victory for the senior class.
The juniors and seniors faced off in the last game, with the seniors being named as the 2011 Powder Puff Champions.
Upon winning, the seniors received gold Powder Puff Championship t-shirts.
"I think the girls played the best they have ever played," Ms. Morris said. "They had a lot of good plays that worked and showed a lot of team work on the field."
By Monday, no one participating could remember the actual scores of the matches.
Throughout the week of preparation for the tournament, each grade decorated the cafeteria and hallways with their class colors to promote game day. The senior class was purple, the junior class was lime green, the sophomore class was teal and the freshman class was red.
Ms. Morris said the junior class was awarded with the best decorations and the seniors were honored with best team spirit during the Powder Puff dinner, and it also raised the most money from the Miss Muscles fundraiser.
In addition to the decorating, the Student Council hosted lunch time activities such as Miss Muscles, a pushup competition, and a ‘Find the Football’ competition, according to Ms. Morris.
Ms. Morris said the Miss Muscles fundraiser consisted of some of the Powder Puff players from each class photographing their arm muscles and then students would put money in the jar of the muscle they thought was the biggest.
The pushup competition had students do as many pushups as they could to be eligible to win a prize, according to Ms. Morris.
She said that ‘Find the Football’ was designated for the freshman to participate in. The Student Council posted a riddle in the freshman cafeteria, which gave hints to where the football was in the high school.
Ms. Morris said that the student who found the football first won a prize. According to Mrs. Morris the pushup competition and ‘Find the Football’ were free of charge. She said that the lunchtime activities helped promote the game day.
Ms. Morris said that tickets to the game were sold during all lunches and at the gate for $5 each.
"I think it was a great football week for the school," Ms. Morris said. "Everyone was excited for the boys’ game on Friday and for the Powder Puff game on Saturday. It was great to see that the Powder Puff participants come to the (boys) playoff game Friday night and the boys come and support Powder Puff."
According to Ms. Morris all of the money raised from the event will be donated to the five charities chosen by the Student Council and the Student Senate; Progin’s Players, Good Grief, Eden Autism, Wounded Warriors and 65 Roses.
Ms. Morris said that the Student Council also collected cans of food for the South Brunswick Food Pantry during the game.
Although Ms. Morris believed this year’s Powder Puff event ran smoothly, she said that she would like to have more spectators attend the games next year.
"I would like to get more people coming so we could raise more money for charity," Ms. Morris said. "Powder Puff is open to all community members."
Overall, the 2011 Powder Puff game was a success and Ms. Morris said she is looking forward to hosting the 12th annual event next year.
"Its tradition," Ms. Morris said. "We always look at the events and always continue the ones the kids like. I just want to thank everyone that participated."
