On Monday, April 29, 2024, Linganore High School (LHS) juniors and seniors came together for the second annual powderpuff game.
Powderpuff is a game where typical gender roles in football are reversed, with the girls taking on the field and the guys using their cheerleader voices.
Both last year and this year the Class of 2024 were able to claim victory, this year winning 29 – 7. Students who came to watch the game thought that it was very entertaining, especially the cheerleading.
“My favorite part of the game was the guys having to dress up and be cheerleaders and dance and do stunts,” said LHS sophomore Charlotte Burns.
In order to prepare for the game, LHS varsity football players worked with the girls to teach them how to play the game, while LHS varsity cheerleaders taught the guys about the different cheers and stunts they would be doing.
The football coaches for the juniors included, Chase Roberts, Jack Todd, Jason Capone, Casey Willett, Shawn Pelovitz and Caden Kiester. The seniors were coached by Christian Petruzzello, Ethan Arneson, Matt Hauptman and Mikey Ayers.
The junior cheerleading coaches were Neh Ahseri, Alexis Hokinson, Brooke Nalesnik and Carmen Monzon, while the seniors were coached by Kaitlin Weis and Whitney Burgess.
“[My favorite part of coaching was] watching them [the junior powderpuff cheerleaders] get happy and riled up when we scored that touchdown,” said Ahseri. “There was a lot of good energy and a lot of support for the juniors.”
However, this was not all of the guys’ first time being cheerleaders nor was it some of the girls’ first time playing football since some of the seniors had the opportunity to participate last year.
“It felt amazing to win this year and to have another great experience with friends,” said LHS Senior, Maddie Madariaga. “This year we also had a winning title to maintain so that made our win ten times better.”
Not only was the game fun for everyone who participated and came to watch, but it was also for a charitable cause.
The Mental Health Association of Frederick County is a non-profit organization whose main goal is to spread awareness to the impact of mental health and help with things such as treatments to help those in need. All the proceeds from the event were donated.
The game was photographed by sports photographer, Paul Madariaga, who has many other photos on his website Paul Sports Flicks.
