By Contributing Writers Lynn Dong (’26) and Ella Azria (’25)
Flag football is back at Jamesville DeWitt High School, but this time, with a little twist. Anyone is now able to participate, not just girls. The student body decided to change this after last year because everyone wanted to be included in the fun pre-game events for homecoming, regardless of their gender. The student government talked to the Jamesville-DeWitt Athletic Director, Frederick Wheeler, to make the change to include everyone. The student body also unanimously decided to change the name from PowderPuff to flag football, getting rid of any gender stereotypes.
Flag football is a game very similar to American football. Where, instead of tackling the other team, you must remove a flag or flag belt from a player on the opposing team to stop the down at play. Each flag football game was 20 minutes long and each team consisted of about 17 players. There were four different teams that played in this event: the senior girls, senior boys, junior girls, and junior boys.
Athletic Director Mr. Wheeler, decided to continue the tradition of the flag-football game. With the addition of boys being able to play, his prediction for the game was that the senior boys, coached by Mr. Archer, would take the title of champion. Mr. Wheeler said, “The senior boys have been practicing and most likely will take the title.” He also predicted that the senior girls, coached by Ms. Kenney, would also take the title of champion. Mr. Wheeler predicted that the senior girls would win because they had the experience and practice from last year, whereas the junior girls didn’t.
The junior boy’s coach, Jeffery Ike, has coached football for around 15 years. When asked if he had any requirements for being a part of his team, Coach Ike said he didn’t have any requirements to be on his team, besides the fact that you need to have school spirit. When asked if his team was going to win, he said, “Absolutely! The junior guys are definitely going to win.” Coach Ike was very enthusiastic and wanted everyone to watch out for the junior boys!
Sabrina Scott, the coach for the junior girl’s team, said that even though she doesn’t have any prior coaching experience, she’s pretty bossy and is confident that her team will win. When asked about any requirements to be on her team, she said “The only requirement to join the team is that you have to be a junior girl.” Ms. Scott was prepared to take the championship home.
The senior girls and senior boys won both games, as predicted by Mr. Wheeler. When asked if this event was a fundraiser, he said “No, that is a good idea for next year though!” A fundraiser would allow the school to raise money for other activities. Hopefully next year there will be more people per team and a better turnout altogether! Fingers crossed the flag football tradition will make a return next year!
