Monday, Sept. 27 was the kick-off date of Park High School’s (PHS) homecoming of 2021. Homecoming festivities unfold at secondary and post-secondary schools every fall. They are designed to attract alumni and have current students connect with one another away from classrooms. “Power Puff” is one event that PHS facilitates to celebrate their homecoming. However, this reimagined version of a powderpuff football game does not solely honor homecoming. PHS commemorated their female athletes on the initial evening of their homecoming week. The very first powderpuff competition dates back to the end of World War II. On Sunday Sept. 2, 1945, Japanese officials signed the Instrument of Surrender in the Allied Powers’ presence. This concluded the battles in the Pacific Ocean. Leading up to that date, few young American men had enrolled in a fall semester of college. Only three had registered for Eastern State Teachers College in South Dakota, for instance. The institution’s autumn traditions were threatened. Isabel Wottowa revealed in an article for The State Journal-Register: “…the school decided to cancel all homecoming sporting events due to the lack of males at the school.”

“The girls at the school felt that homecoming would be incomplete without a football game. Therefore, they decided to have a game of their own.”

Twenty-three women at Eastern State Teachers College divided into two teams. Then, they played football. For a halftime showcase, the students dolled themselves up. This is where the name, “powderpuff” originated. Wottowa noted, “Instead of a band or a dance team the players decided they would go onto the field and apply a fresh face of makeup, inspiring the headline for the local paper the following morning, ‘The Powderpuff and Rogue Elevens.’” After that 1945 evening, powderpuff matches largely vanished. They gained the favor of many American high schools by the ‘70s.

It is not clear when the tradition launched at PHS. What The Journal does know is that powderpuff games were occurring there by the top of this century. Mark Anderson is the standing student council advisor at PHS. He described one historic PHS powderpuff match: “I still remember-I was in high school in 2001, 2002. I actually went to watch one of our powderpuff games. And the announcers were two men. And they were…like, ‘Oh, no, this team has a broken fingernail, we better send the [medics].’” Sometime succeeding the distasteful happening, PHS cancelled powderpuff games. Philip Kuemmel is the activities director and assistant principal at the institution. In an interview with The Journal, on Sept. 27, he stated, “There [were] many years in a row where we didn’t do this; there’s lots of different reasons why.”

In 2018, female students at PHS motioned to reintroduce powderpuff games to PHS. Special Education Teacher Shannon Weisbrod was the homecoming coordinator that year. She “heard” their desire. “I strongly believe that sports should not be linked to just one gender,” Weisbrod voiced. “I have grown up playing sports and coach today and see the value in what sports can bring to student athletes.”

Therefore, powderpuff matches would return to PHS that fall-with a few changes.

To begin with, each registered team was required to be diverse in age. No more than one-half of the players on a single team could be in the same grade. This guidance, according to Weisbrod, would encourage “new connections” and “new friendships while partaking in high school activities.”

Next, male students would be permitted to “coach” the all-girl teams. Thirdly, PHS altered how they referred to their powderpuff competitions. Weisbrod recalled, “Given that the name ‘powderpuff’ was named after makeup and had a more negative connotation, we worked with, then, Principal Garski to change the name to ‘Power Puff’ to encourage a more positive connotation to the name.”

While a powderpuff game was rejoining PHS’s list of homecoming activities, it was being evolved. Kuemmel defended why this was the case: “…[We made] this one event to make it so that… ‘Yes, guys could be cheerleaders;’ ‘Yes girls can play football.’” Since 2018, the fresh Power Puff match has stuck around. On the evening of Monday, Sept. 27, at Wolfpack Stadium, the one of 2021 took place.

The game mirrored that of flag football. There were two halves. Each part ran continuously for 20 minutes. Teams could score points by running or passing touchdowns. These were worth seven points each. Succeeding a touchdown, extra points were not awarded. Rather, the team that did not score secured possession of the football.

“Team 305” and “Team Lights Out” were the groups that participated in Power Puff. By halftime, the score was 14:7. Team Lights Out was leading. They proceeded to do so when they scored two additional touchdowns in the second half. 28:7 was the final tally. It was a victory for Team Lights Out!

Megan Maloney is a powerful Power Puff player. For Team Lights Out, she earned two of their four touchdowns. Furthermore, Maloney has excelled in the event before. “Me, Megan and Jack won three years in a row,” her teammate Kenzie Harer justified.

Team 305 admitted that Team Lights Out’s speed challenged them. Power Puff Coach O.T. Omot confessed, “We just couldn’t handle the speed. We weren’t really prepared.”

While they were not victorious, Team 305 showed satisfaction for the level of “women empowerment” that came with Power Puff. “I feel like it’s a girl moment; a girlboss moment,” Emma Geister, the team manager, illustrated.

Ninety-two spectators fledged Wolfpack Stadium’s stands to witness the competition. Among this crowd was Evelyn, a future Power Puff competitor. In an interview with The Journal, she identified her purpose for attending the game: “Just ‘cause I’m into football, and just to see girls playing [it]-because usually boys [play it].”

Evelyn expressed that she wishes to see girls involved with “different sports” that “boys can only play.”

The athletes’ parents made an appearance as well. Elsa Olsen, who was involved with Team Lights Out, had her parents there. When questioned on what they thought about Power Puff and its title, they responded, “I’m just glad they allow the girls to play, and make friends, and have a crowd and the lights, and the scoreboard’s really cool. As far as what they call it, I mean, whatever.”

Because of the redesigned Power Puff, PHS Homecoming 2021 began with an abundance of women empowerment. Anderson assured, “And when we call it Power Puff, I feel like it gives female athletes the ability to reclaim the misogyny of it and turn it into an actual sports competition and showing the actual athleticism of women versus the misogyny…”

Team Lights Out bit their medals and held up one finger, symboling that they were victorious in Power Puff.Photo by Sadie Jones.