Student Council (STUCO) established a powderpuff football game as a club activity for female students to participate in for the spring.

Kathleen Shisler, the STUCO adviser and Family Consumer science teacher, met with female STUCO members early in February to finalize the process of bringing back powderpuff football. This was the first powderpuff event for several years at RHS. Sign-up sheets were placed in the cafeteria, guidance office and Shisler’s room on February 19 and 20 for girls interested in playing. Shisler discussed what she wanted the members to accomplish with powderpuff football.

“[I wanted them] to organize a successful event, have fun and promote school spirit,” Shisler said.

Shisler divided the girls who signed up into teams by grade. The different grade levels competed against each other. The girls did not have set practices to attend but they could make t-shirts and meet on their own time. Sophomore Ellen Race discussed why she joined the club and her goals for the activity.

“I [participated] because I really enjoy NFL football and I understand the game, so I thought this would come easy to me. My goals for the season [were] to stay healthy and not have any more ACL tears,” Race said.

The girls decided to play flag football instead of tackle football because they wanted to prevent injuries. Referees were also present to ensure safety during their games. Sophomore Marissa Williams explained why she was content with STUCO’s choice.

“I [didn’t] really care if we [were] eventually allowed to play tackle or not. I [was] fine with keeping it as only flag football. I [did not] want the possibility of an injury so I [could] still participate in other sports,” Williams said.

STUCO selected two female captains per grade. In addition to girl captains, football coach and guidance counselor Mike Murphey approached interested men’s football players to assist with the coaching of the powderpuff teams. The captains and men’s football players chosen lead the teams together. Junior captain Alison Baumgardner elaborated on how junior Mason Johnston, one of the football player coaches, helped guide the junior powderpuff team.

“We [worked] with Mason [Johnston] and Chase [Costanzo]. Mason came to our first practice. He was helpful,” Baumgardner said.

Some of the girls would eventually like to see powderpuff transform from a STUCO activity into a school sport. Race shared her thoughts on the future of the activity.

“I think it would be great as a school sport…It would be fun to play against other teams in the area,” Race said.

The first powderpuff games took place on Saturday, April 5 from 4 to 6 pm on the turf. The seniors were victorious over all the other teams.