Photo by Sofia Tong/Sagamore Staff

Powderpuff has been an incredible experience for me. Going into Powderpuff, I was very hesitant about joining because I was terrified of getting hurt or letting down my teammates.

I had heard that this game was extremely dangerous and I knew absolutely nothing about football except that Tom Brady is the quarterback for the New England Patriots. I also knew nothing about rules or football terms, and I never thought that I would be able to learn everything I needed to learn by the time the game came around.

I thought about it and decided to give this a chance; I joined the team. I am so glad that I did because I have gotten to know so many amazing girls and I have learned so much about the game of football from our incredible coaches. It is amazing how I now know my teammates so well and have developed great friendships just from this one experience.

Being a junior, I realize how important these experiences really are. We have opened up to each other so much just by talking at practices, and every single girl on my team is genuinely caring and friendly.

I remember on the very first day of practice when our coach huddled us up and he began talking about how important this team really is. The thing that really stuck with me was when he told us, “from now on, we are a family.”

And ever since then, I have felt exactly like that family with the girls on my team, and we have connected in many ways from this experience. I have learned so much about working as a team and supporting the people around me.

I play in the defensive line, and I was extremely terrified because I am five feet tall and I knew I would get knocked over quite easily. After a ton of practices, I realized how strong and tough I could be.

One major thing that we learned in order to succeed is mental toughness. This is something that our coaches preached to us each and every day and we have improved so much because of this. Mental toughness allows you to succeed in whatever you are doing no matter how frustrating or challenging a situation is or might seem.

In the last month, we have become mentally tough as individuals and that has made us such a strong team. I am so proud of every single girl.

Reaching junior year, I came to realize that I will only be at BHS for another year and a half. So, I will treasure these experiences and my teammates forever. Through this experience, I have learned a lot about myself and about what I am really capable of doing as long as I put my mind to it. This truly was a life-changing experience!

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