SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Powder Puff tourney held at SBHS

By Maria Riegel, Special Writer
   South Brunswick High School held it’s 12th annual Powder Puff charity event on the football field Saturday.
   Female students from the various grades donned football team attire and took to the field for the annual class bragging rights and to raise money for charity.
   The first game played was between the freshmen and the juniors. The game went into overtime with a junior victory of 7-0.
   The second game was played between the sophomores and seniors. The won with a score of 9-7. The final championship game was between the juniors and seniors.
   The seniors were given the title of Powder Puff 2012 Championships with a score of 21-7 in the championship game.
   In addition to the seniors winning the championship game, they also won the sportsmanship award and the best decoration award.
   During the week of November 12, each grade was given time after school to decorate designated areas of SBHS with their class color to create spirit and excitement among students in their grade. The freshman decorated in light blue, the sophomores in red, the juniors in teal and the seniors in lime green.
   According to Student Council adviser Kelly Boyer, approximately $4,000 was being raised from Powder Puff. All the money raised is being donated and divided equally among a select group of charities chosen by student council members.
   ”Money was raised through our 50/50 ticket raffle, send a shout-out and game ticket sales,” Ms. Boyer said.
   Charities included are Wounded Warriors Project, which helps veterans recover from war, Women Aware that helps relieve women and children from domestic violence, and Hugs for Brady which is a South Brunswick specific charity for child-cancer.
   Ms. Boyer said that Student Council collected donations for the American Red Cross during the game. She also said there will either be a monetary or goods donation to the South Brunswick Food Pantry.
   ”We researched different charities and chose from those based on which tied into the theme of Powder Puff,” Ms. Boyer said.
   Although Powder Puff was scheduled for Friday, Nov. 16, it was held on it’s alternate date because the SBHS football team had its first round playoff game.
   Ms. Boyer said that the attendance was not affected even though the game was held on a Saturday.
   ”I think that a lot of our attendance comes from our players’ families, so if the players are here, their supporters are here,” Ms. Boyer said.
   Ms. Boyer said that she would like to improve crowd participation for next year. She said that this year there were a group of senior boys who were approved to be cheerleaders at the game who excited the crowd. The cheerleaders performed before the championship game.
   ”I would like to get more crowd participation,” Ms. Boyer said. “The senior cheerleaders did a good job getting the crowd going.”
   Ms. Boyer said that all grades used to be able to have male students sign up to be cheerleaders during the Powder Puff games, but a few years ago the cheerleaders were banned because they failed to comply with regulations to perform appropriate dances.
   According to Ms. Boyer, seniors will be the only class allowed in the future to have cheerleaders at the Powder Puff games.
   Overall, Ms. Boyer said she was impressed with the outcome of the event this year.
   ”I am relieved that it went exactly as planned,” Ms. Boyer said. “There were people visiting from other districts and they were very impressed as to how South Brunswick’s community members were supportive of the schools events.”