Паудерпафф: женский футбол как благотворительная традиция

High school sport

In the United States and Canada, powderpuff are football games (ice hockey games in Canada) which include flag football or touch football games between girls from junior and senior classes or cross town school rivals. Funds from ticket and concession sales typically go to charity, the senior class, or to a dance. The games are an annual tradition at many high schools and universities. The term originates from the powder puff, the soft material used for the application of cosmetic face powder. The games usually occur before homecoming.

It is not clear when the first powderpuff football game was played, although there is photographic evidence of it being played as early as 1931 at Western State College of Colorado (now Western State Colorado University) in Gunnison, Colorado. One of the first well documented powderpuff football games was played on October 20, 1945, at Eastern State Teachers College, in Madison, South Dakota. Eastern State Teachers College had previously cancelled many campus activities for the duration of World War II. Among these events were the annual homecoming celebration and intercollegiate sports, including football. Robert C. Nelles, a freshman at Eastern that year, was on the Homecoming committee. The very idea of women playing football "was enough to curl your teeth", he wrote in an account of the game for the History of Lake County, but nonetheless, the committee gave its approval for a game with all women players. Leota Van Ornum, Eastern's physical education teacher, served as coach for both teams. Robert Ormseth, a coach at a local high school, served as her assistant. "A fairly large group of spectators showed great interest and enthusiasm during the game," according to The Eastern, the campus newspaper. Proceeds from the event are donated to the Alzheimer's Association. The annual contests were started by Sara Allen Abbott, whose father, Texas State Representative Joseph Hugh Allen, died of Alzheimer's disease in 2008. Looking for a way to raise funds for the Alzheimer's Association, Abbott organized a powderpuff football game in tribute to her father, a lifelong football fan. In the fall of 2005, the first blonde vs. brunette powder puff football game was played at Hains Point in Washington, D. C., and raised $10,000. Subsequently, the game searched for a more suitable home and moved around the Washington, D. C., area before settling down at George Washington University’s Mount Vernon Athletic Field in 2009. The game has received considerable publicity which included feature articles in The Washington Post and local TV stations and has raised over $500,000 in the national capital area. Blondes vs. Brunettes Charity Football is currently played in 16 cities in the United States. Abbott plans to continue the expansion to more cities and eventually establish a "Blondes vs. Brunettes Super Bowl."

Powderpuff games have faced backlash for enforcing gender stereotypes. Teachers and parents alike have criticized the games for "demeaning women's athletic ability", citing how the name implies that girls are fragile and only fit to play flag football. There is also the argument that girls should feel like they are able to play football whenever they want, and not have to have a special spectacle just for female students to participate in a male dominated sport is a mockery of the abilities of female athletes.

Powderpuff games have also come under fire for encouraging violence between peers, especially at some schools where junior girls are subject to hazing by the senior class. In 2003, two Chicago area high schools participated in hazing that led to five girls being hospitalized. School officials noted that the game was not an officially sanctioned event as the school did not promote, plan, or even know about the event.