Sophomores take down seniors in UNC’s first powderpuff game

They called themselves ‘The Six’

Homecoming is a time for following traditions and creating new ones. This year is no different.

Powderpuff games are a staple among high schools, giving students the opportunity to take part in flag football and cheer on their fellow classmates. This Sunday, UNC held its first set of homecoming Powderpuff Games at the Ehringhaus Fields.

Coming from the Tri-state area, event leader Seteena Turner attended a high school with major school spirit. She factored in that spirit when choosing to attend UNC.

Sophomore Seteena said: “Everybody would be so hype to kick off homecoming with a powderpuff game.”

Freshman team

Junior team

Senior team

This inspired her to bring that tradition here to UNC. Partnering with UNC’s Black Student Movement, Carolina Fever and UNC’s Homecoming Committee, Turner planned this year’s event to unite student organizations on campus.

The setup was simple. Three games. Freshmen vs. sophomores and juniors vs. seniors. The winners of the first two games would then move on to the championship game.

Each team received shirts for participating. Freshmen in neon pink, sophomores in neon green, juniors in bright orange and the seniors in dark blue.

The players fought hard, with the sophomores besting the freshies and the seniors defeating the juniors in double overtime.

Calling themselves “The Six,” the sophomore team was seen as the underdogs, after nearly having to forfeit their chances of playing due to only six of the registered 20 members showing up to play.

In the final game against the seniors, “The Six” played their hearts out and showed everyone they came to win. Which is exactly what they did.

Captain Meredith Randolph, kneeling with sophomore team

Captain Meredith Randolph was ecstatic about the win.

She said: “It feels pretty great to be on top. I’m so extremely proud of the six that did come out because everybody was tired, we had no subs and these girls came to both of our practices. Then they showed up and came through, and they worked hard.”

When asked if she would do it again, she said with a smile: “Absolutely. I had a great time.”

Sophomore coach Tyler Royal (upper middle) was also pleased with the results.

Tyler said: “The girls – they worked so hard and coming in, we saw the other teams. They had 25 people. We had six. They played the entire game. It just feels good because they put all the work in. They really, really worked hard and they deserve it.

“We went into the first game a little unsure about what was going to happen, but in the second game, we knew that we could easily win it. That’s when we were like, all we need is six.”

Hannah Williams

Aside from the trophies, the powderpuff event gave students the chance to meet new people.

Freshman Hannah Williams said: “My experience with the powderpuff game was great. I felt the unity on the field, although it was competitive. Before I  practiced with my powderpuff team, I was a very shy person and stayed in my room, but once we started practicing, I became a little social butterfly and I’ve met a lot of new people and built great friendships.”

Halle Thompson, a junior Exercise and and Sports Science major said: “The practices were fun and I really liked my team. The overtime rules weren’t fair, but other than that, it was pretty all right. They should’ve established a better set of rules for contact, ’cause there was a lot of that going on, but overall it was fun.”

Halle Thompson

Seteena plans for the games to be an annual event.

“I’ve learned so much of what to do and what not to do in planning and for the actual game day, so in the future I’ll be able to take what went wrong and make it better to hopefully make it bigger and better.”

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