Last year before powderpuff, coach of the seniors Christopher Vick guaranteed that the Class of 2014, decked out in red, would be victorious for the second year in a row. The senior class ended up proving Vick’s assertion correct, when they won by a score of 28-14. This year red, without the players that brought them success the past two year, are looking to continue their winning streak with a new crop of athletes, the junior class of 2016.

The seniors, the class of 2015, hasn’t experienced a blue victory since their freshman year, a trend they want to reverse before their time at the high school is over. A win at Parsons Field on Nov. 26th would be more than a mere victory for the blue side.

Last year Newton South High School principal Joel Stembridge cancelled NSHS’ annual powderpuff game, citing injuries, sexist overtones and intimidating class rivalries. Although this year, both junior and senior classes are looking to lift their teams to deciding victories over the other color, close participants don’t see many of the same concerns that led to the cancellation of Newton South’s tradition.

Vick said that he thinks the people involved in this tradition has made a successful effort in years past to stray from sexism and obnoxious class rivalries in the three years he has been at the event, coaching the red side.

 “I’ve heard that in years past it hadn’t always been the best of Brookline High School,” Vick said. “But I think we’ve kept the focus where it needs to be, and that’s on an athletic contest. I think we’ve really made it a legitimate athletic contest where athletes who happen to be women work their butts off and do a great job. I think if I’ve done anything or been part of anything that’s been the most important piece, letting young folks know that we don’t deal in sexism, if you’re a young lady you can work just as hard and hit just as hard as any young man can.”

 Senior Anya Gorodentsev said that she doesn’t think powderpuff is sexist because it gives female athletes a chance to play football in an intense competition. Gorodentsev, who went to Needham High School before attending Brookline High, also said she sees powderpuff as uniting the community, not dividing the classes.

 “I think powderpuff definitely brings the school together as a community,” Gorodentsev said. “Coming from another high school where powderpuff was not nearly as emphasized, it was really surprising when I came here to see how involved the school was with it. When I moved to Brookline, I thought one of the coolest things about the school was the rally around the whole powderpuff game. And when I came to the game for the first time I didn’t see red and blue divided but rather unified representing pride in our school and our colors and I thought it was really incredible.”

Senior George O’Dea has attended powderpuff every year he has been at the high school and said he finds it positive, although he doesn’t think it raises school spirit or unifies the school much past Thanksgiving weekend.

 “It raises school spirit for the football game, but that’s really it,” O’Dea said. “If there was a different sports game a week after, nobody would know. It only raises school spirit for those two games, powderpuff and the Thanksgiving football game.

Regardless of all the buzz surrounding whether powderpuff should exist and the benefits it may exert on the school community, people are still anticipating great things for this year’s event.

 Except maybe not for the opposing team.

 “I’m looking forward to keeping red winning,” junior Brooke Overton said. “Because red has won in the past couple years so I’m looking to continue that tradition of red winning. I just plan on us having more points than blue and having blue not score at all. I think red will win and blue will be shut out.”

 Gorodentsev said that she believes her squad is going to shut out the juniors this year and definitely win.

 “The seniors this year are ten times more dedicated and motivated than last year,” Gorodentsev said.

 Vick is not straying much from his comments prior to the game last year, although he offered more specifics when he gave his take on how the game is going to go on Nov. 26th.

“The senior girls will have a great team,” Vick said. “They will work really hard. I think they’ll have a strong offense and a strong defense, and we will beat them by 3,000 points.”

Edmund Geschickter can be contacted at [email protected]