On November 6, 2023, five teams made up of senior girls competed in the annual Powderpuff game organized by the YHS Student Senate. Since it was the day after daylight savings ended, it got dark quickly, but that didn’t stop Ball of Duty from seizing the moment: They came out on top after beating the Untouchables in the finals.
Each team put their best foot forward for the Powderpuff. The five teams (Ball of Duty, The Untouchables, meltDOWN, Pink Panthers, and Victorious Secrets) were formed weeks before the Powderpuff. The teams, coached by senior boys, practiced for hours on the turf leading up to the big day.
The competitors were not the only ones working hard. The YHS Student Senate spent many hours planning and running the event. In addition to them, the teachers and staff who refereed also made the event a great success.
In the past, Powderpuff was the only time of the year girls at YHS could get the opportunity to play flag football (outside of PE). However, we’ll be seeing more flag football this school year with the introduction of flag football as a spring sport.
Other Section 1 schools, including rivals Somers and Lakeland, have already supported flag football teams in previous years. Yorktown is one of many Section 1 schools to introduce the sport for this coming spring.
Last spring was the first year flag football was a sanctioned sport of the NYSPHSAA and Section 1 had two leagues that competed. The year before was its pilot season, when it was brought to Section 1 by Somers Coach Katie DiChiaro and the NY Giants.
There are some key rule differences between flag football and tackle football:
Tackle Football:
- 4 downs per 10 yards
- 120-yard long field
- 11 on the field
- field goals
- tackling
Flag Football:
- 4 downs per 20 yards
- 100-yard long field (and narrower)
- 7 on the field
- no field goals, only punting on a 4th down that has not advanced
- “sacking” by grabbing the quarterback’s flags
Even with all these differences, flag football is still very physical and demanding. It is also much more physically demanding than Powderpuff, which uses only half the length of a normal football field.
Flag football is already garnering interest at YHS and will only add to the diverse opportunities students enjoy at YHS.
