This October, Ferguson Field was buzzing with excitement as students cheered on their houses in St. George’s first post-pandemic powder puff football games.

So, what is powder puff? It’s a high school tradition where female students play flag football while male students take on the cheerleading and coaching roles.

The idea of the long-awaited tradition returning to St. George’s had been floating for years, but it wasn’t until senior Madi Sanders took the initiative for her Senior Independent Study that the event became a reality.

“There was always talk about [a powder puff event], but there wasn’t really any action taken,” Sanders said. “I wanted to do grade level competitions, but since the house schedule and teams were already broken off into [groups], it would just be easier to divide teams and know that it was even.”

Sanders sent an interest form to upper school students on Sep. 23. Before long, all coaching and player spots had been claimed and the hype around powder puff overtook the school.

“Everybody was kind of anticipating it. Even in the hallways, people were talking about it – I really enjoyed that part of it,” Sanders said.

Director of Programming and Auxiliary Services Mrs. Sarah Robertson helped set up the house day, which took place over two separate CAC times. The games were held on Oct. 24 and Oct. 31 on Ferguson Field. On the first day of games, a bake sale was held with all proceeds raised going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

“A lot of people close to me recently have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and I’ve had relatives in the past pass away from [it]. So it’s very important for me,” Sanders said.

During the first game, players wore their house shirts and donned pink arm sleeves in support for breast cancer awareness while many other SGIS students contributed by being patrons of the bake sale.

“I think it was fun to play against other St. George’s girls and there’s that competitiveness against each other, but also you’re going against your friends,” senior Laurel Rogers said. “You want to win against your friends and be competitive against [them].”

The first game was a very tough matchup between Honey Locust and Cypress, until second half adjustments by Honey Locust led to them being victorious.

Swamp Willow and Ironwood had a very competitive match, before a late surge by Swamp Willow led to triumph over Ironwood.

As the second week approached for the finale of Honey Locust vs. Swamp Willow, anticipation only grew.

The entire school showed up to The Ferg again on Oct. 31 in their Halloween costumes for the final two games.

Sanders set up a surprise guest appearance by online celebrity Crishaun Akins, better known as SouthMemphisHypeman, to hype students up before the championship matchup.

“She didn’t tell anybody because she really wanted it to be a surprise,” Mrs. Robertson said. “Mr. Gibson, Ms. Finch, Madi, [her] mom [and I] knew. It was a secret for everybody else.”

His arrival stunned everybody. As he blasted his song, “SHAWT ME DOWN ANTHEM U NO,” students rushed in around him, chanting the lyrics and doing his signature dance with him.

When the game began, announcer for Gryphon’s athletics Mr. Miller was commentating the 3rd place match between the Ironwood, coached by Jack Wolaver, and Cypress, coached by Will Miraglia. Shockingly, the match between them ended in a tie.

Finally, the whole school watched as Head of School Luke Pruett commentated the last game: the championship match. The match took place between Honey Locust, led by Dev Dalsania, and Swamp Willow, led by Quinn Showalter.

Honey Locust’s stout defense, which forced two turnovers, helped them achieve a quick 6-0 lead, before the Honey Locust offense closed out the game with another passing touchdown to make it 12-0.

Following the conclusion of the championship game, Honey Locust was crowned victorious, leading them to claim the inaugural powder puff football championship trophy.

“We felt honored to win the inaugural competition,” Dalsania said. “We hope it becomes an annual competition. Everyone at Honey Locust had a blast.”

“Our coaching philosophy was to just let them play the game. We trusted them to just go out and win,” Dalsania continued.

“I loved the end: getting to throw the winning touchdown pass to Joleen and getting to celebrate with her,” Rogers said.

After the trophy celebration, Dalsania awarded Rogers the Championship MVP.

Teachers and faculty praised the event for building school spirit and teamwork.

“The students enjoyed it,” Mr. Miller said. “I thought it was going to be pretty fun because these are girls that watch a lot of football and there are a lot of athletic girls [at the school].”

Mrs. Robertson was impressed as well.

“I think the people [who] participated had a great time,” Mrs. Robertson said.

Those on the sidelines who weren’t participating in the game also had an enjoyable time.

“Even the crowd was interested in it, and I feel like that’s something different,” Sanders said. “Most of the time when people aren’t participating and they’re just sitting on the sidelines ready for it to be over.”

In the days following the championship, one question echoed across campus: Will powder puff become a new St. George’s tradition?

The players certainly thought it should return.

“It was so much fun, I hope it becomes something every single year,” Rogers said.

There’s promising news for those hopeful of its comeback: all signs point to an easy return, especially since the foundation was laid.

“I knew [the event] wasn’t going to be perfect, so I wanted to set the foundation so that next year, whoever does it, it can just continue to go on,” Sanders said.

Mrs. Robertson said she hopes it will.

“If the students want it for sure. It could grow,” Mrs. Robertson said.

The future of powder puff may be uncertain, but if the energy and excitement from this year are any indication, this house day tradition is just getting started.