Why is it that when girl’s play football, the game is called Powderpuff? Well, the name Powderpuff originated in the 1940’s. At this time, women would fix up their makeup using a powder puff. Around the same time, the idea that women would play flag or touch football became a trend. Now, across the nation, girls are competing against each other, playing the same game of Powderpuff.

Our Cathedral Catholic High School Powderpuff tradition started with a beloved teacher, Mario Fierro, who passed almost 2 years ago. According to teacher Frank Caro, Fierro coached Powderpuff and brought the tradition to Cathedral. In honor of Mr. Fierro, all ticket proceeds from the game are donated to the Mario Fierro Scholarship. The Mario Fierro Scholarship blesses a future Don with a full, four- year scholarship to attend Cathedral Catholic. To be eligible, the student must have attended a San Diego County school previously. The scholarship requirements exemplify who Mr. Fierro was; welcoming, equal, and devoted to his students.

When Mr. Fierro was in charge, senior and junior boys coached the girls. When NHS held Powderpuff last year, coaches Joe Montali and Kenneth Treadwell, coached the girls. This year, NHS has decided to combine the ideas by having one boy and one coach assigned to each team. There will be two junior and two senior teams to play for the title and trophy.

According to Mr. Caro, “Last year, we tried putting friends together, but the problem with that was we had volleyball, soccer, and other athletes on the same team, which made the teams unfair. This year, the coaches will be selecting girls in a draft to evenly split the teams.” Last year, 188 juniors and seniors played and this year, NHS is expecting the same amount of girls to sign up.

Last year, the final game went into 7 overtimes with the class of ‘22 taking the win. This game had a very controversial ending for the class of ‘22 and ‘23. According to senior coach, Jack Breen, “The senior girls [CO ‘23] got jipped last year from the title so I think this year it’s time to win and win with no remorse.” Breen is using the tactic, “teach [the girls] to kill and football second.” On an opposing team, senior coach, Sean Kagen, shared how he was feeling about the upcoming games. His plan is to teach the seniors the fundamentals of football and let their adrenaline take them the rest of the way. He mentions some technical rules the girls should know such as offsides, passing the line of scrimmage, false start, and more. As for defense, he recommends “just hitting the other person as hard as you can.” As a fan, Kagan says you should “look out for a lot of trick plays.”

The deadline to sign up is today, January 13th, and the entry fee is $15. Game night is February 11th, at 6pm, at Manchester Stadium. Until then, practices will take place depending on when the coach schedules them. If you are not interested in playing but interested in seeing the games go down, come support your friends as they fight for the trophy. May the best team win!