On May 29, Oak Park Associated Student Body once again held its annual Powderpuff Game on the football field at 5 in the afternoon.

Powderpuff football games are a flag football or touch football games between girls from junior and senior classes. Usually the funds and concession sales from the game are used for the senior class as well as dances and rallies for the upcoming school year. In order to play and get a t-shirt, girls had to sign up and pay a $20 fee. Also, each player had to fill out of waiver that brought to their attentions that they can potentially get injured during the practices and games.

While the game’s purpose is an excellent opportunity for the girls on each team to bond and have fun, the game caused tensions between both teams and aggressive behavior and actions were performed by both parties.

“The seniors played dirty,” junior Jessica Townsend said, “The refs did not call anything against them and it supposed to be flag football, and not tackle football, and it took the fun out of the whole game.”

Many junior players claimed that the seniors were tackling and stampeding over them and some claimed that inappropriate slangs and words were shared amongst both parties.

One of the biggest arguments that caused many to be angry was the fact that a senior’s father was referee for the game, so some people speculated that his calls were made to help the senior team win.

“While it probably seemed unfair that my dad reefed the game,” senior Maris Paden said, “he gave us four fouls on the seniors, so he certainly wasn’t biased. It was fun having him on the field and it was a game that was extremely rewarding.”

Some juniors, due to the calls made by the referee, coined the term “Daddy ball” as a way to reveal the flaw within the calls and other issues.

Beside this, tensions finally collided when Emma Borrow, a junior defender, was tackled and approached by senior Megan Farzaneh, and then everyone stormed the field in order to break up the fight between the two girls before someone got hurt. At the same time, two other players got into a heated argument that needed to be broken apart as well.

“This was the second year I saw a fight during the Powderpuff games,” Paden said. “My instincts led me onto the field in order to break it up, but I had to be concerned about my safety as well.”

After that little conflict, the game continued on. Many concerned parents witnessed their children and the teams use profanity and derogatory language towards each other. While most thought the fights were ridiculous, some disagreed.

“I thought the fight was justified,” junior Lauren Welin said. “[The seniors] were playing dirty and the juniors were just trying to stand up for themselves.”

The juniors, however, were struggling to win and were always following the seniors who ended up winning the game 24-12. Even though, the juniors were defeated, many had high spirits and were confident that they will come back next year and win the game

“I had a great time and liked that it was very intense and I got to meet new girls who I never met before which was pretty cool,” Michelle Townsely said.