2017 saw the return of one Highland tradition that many had assumed was gone forever.  Powderpuff football, an intramural flag football tournament for the ladies of Highland, was an annual occurrence at the school for many years.  However, a fight between parents who were involved with helping out, combined with a very loose set of on field rules, led the administration to shut down the whole thing.  The shutdown was a sad day for many members of the Highland student body, especially since many other schools prided themselves in their annual Powderpuff tournaments.

But the controversial history of Powderpuff did not sway this year’s HAW Presidency.  They were determined to bring this tradition back to Highland, and even followed through with it after following some initial resistance from the administration.

“Going into this year, we knew that we were going to try our best to bring Powderpuff back to Highland,” HAW President Lily Olson said.  “When we first proposed our idea to Principal Jensen he immediately shot it down. After a few days of constantly asking him, he told us that we could write out a proposition but he was still set on his answer. This process was about three weeks and he finally told us it was passed.”

After finally getting the tournament passed, HAW at lunch time set up a table in order to get girls to sign up.  This was met with enormous success, with girls from all four classes at Highland signing up in droves.  Then, on Monday, May 8th, the return of Powderpuff was marked with two games down on the football field.  The Seniors beat down the Sophomores, and the Freshman pulled an unlikely upset against the Juniors.

The games on Monday were followed up by a championship game on Friday between the Seniors and the Freshman.  This game was a defensive battle with each side holding the other to only one TD for the majority of the game.  The Seniors ended up pulling out a late victory led by Meghan Ekins and Lexi Delquadro.  But while the Seniors were the eventual champions, a good time was had by all.

“I had a blast doing this,” Freshman coach and SBO Secretary Brandt Graham said.  “Everyone was so ready to be out there and compete but also have fun.  I think this was a great experience and if you want to, everyone should have the opportunity.”

Overall, this was a fun tradition that was brought back by this year’s HAW Presidency, and will be eagerly looked for next year.