Powderpuff (sports)
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 the 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. History 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 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. With the signing of the unconditional surrender by Japan on September 2, 1945, the war officially came to an end, Homecoming was once again on the schedule at Eastern. A traditional football game seemed out of the question since due to the wartime military draft, just 3 men had enrolled for the fall term that year. "A bunch of us were sitting around after gym class and we thought, if we’re going to have Homecoming, we've got to have a football game," said Susie Lowry, who was a freshman at Eastern in 1945. "We decided we should have a game of our own." 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. There were two groups of female Eastern students at the time: those who lived at their homes in Madison while attending classes on campus and those from surrounding small towns who lived in the dorm. The 230 girls who wanted to play football divided into two teams: known as the Townies and the Dormies. On game day, the teams were designated Blue and Gold teams, respectively, which were Eastern’s school colors. Leota Van Ornum, Eastern's physical education teacher, served as coach for both teams. There was a high school on Eastern’s campus where students training to be teachers did their practice teaching. Robert Ormseth, who coached that school's football team, 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. Friends and family were surely well represented because the 23 players constituted almost half of Eastern’s enrollment of 53 that term. Robert Nelles and Paul Tommeraasen, two of the