At the annual Powder Puff game, coming up on Sunday, November 3rd, at 11:00 a.m, the junior and senior girls’ will showcase their hard work and face off in an intense flag football game on the East turf.

The two teams have been diligently preparing for the big game, since October 10th. Sean Coen (‘20), one of the senior coaches, gives insight into how the senior girls developed skills and knowledge for the big game.  

Coen said, “We have been trying to build off of what we started last year.  We really laid the groundwork and now we are just trying to get everybody involved.  [We want to] make sure it’s a good experience for all of the players and of course, that we win”.

Ben Adler (‘21), one of the junior coaches, said, “We’ve been really focusing during the practices and working hard.  Everyone has been trying their best.”

Although the experience seems like all fun and games, the coaches and players do face some challenges during preparation. 

Coen says, “It’s mostly just getting everyone to come out to practice.  It’s hard making sure everyone is learning what to do when we don’t have the same people coming every [practice].   We need to adjust to what we have.” Adler seconds this statement. He finds it challenging to get everyone to attend all practices.  However, both the coaches try their best to compensate for the missing participants.

Of course every team holds a star player. The class of 2020 possess Maggie Balderstone, their quarterback.  She is a serious asset to all of the plays and is the team’s secret weapon. 

Coen says “She did a really nice job learning the offensive plays fast.  She is even helping to coach the other girls.”  

Balderstone credits her capability to coach Coen and coach Simon Miller, as they came into the practices with various plays and ideas.  She thinks they are doing an outstanding job organizing Powder Puff. 

Balderstone says, “Sean has put a lot of trust in my decision making, but has also given me great advice on reading the defense.  He gave me the tools I needed to make the best decisions in certain situations.” 

An obvious advantage for the senior team is player, Maggie Balderstone.  This will be her second year participating in Powder Puff. She has already gained lots of experience from last year’s game and just continues to improve as a player.  Each and every practice, she gets better and better.  

 Balderstone said, “This year, I know what to anticipate and I know the plays.  I [also] know that my teammates [understand] the plays and are ready to execute [when game time comes.”

The class of 2021 also contains star players of their own.  Paula Sawan, the quarterback, is as a key player, along with Jillian Drumm. 

Ryan Bloom, another coach for the junior girls, said the two girls are both “some of their deadly weapons on offense.”

Both team’s strategies remain private in order to intensify the game and to keep the advantage fair. Coen states they are going to “keep the plays classified” although they do have “some tricks up their sleeves.”  Similarly, Adler says that the team “has a few tricks up their sleeves, but doesn’t want to disclose any of that information”.

As the game gets closer, tensions begin to arise. No one is certain who will win the 2019 Powder Puff.  Will the seniors win their final Powder Puff or will the juniors find success in their first?

Coen said the senior girls have a very high chance of winning and that the team is planning on dominating.  However, Bloom opposes saying, “The junior girls are 100% winning. The seniors are not going to be ready for us”.

The junior and senior girls are excited to battle it out on the football field, on November 3rd.  At this point, the game can go either way.