Did you know that powderpuff football has been around since World War 2? It was meant for girls to play during Homecoming to keep the spirit alive because of the lack of men. The first well-documented game was played in 1945 at Eastern State Teachers College in South Dakota.
The name “powderpuff” came from the half-time joke where the girls reapplied makeup with powder puffs, leading a local journalist to dub them the “Powder Puffs.”
The games often feature a reversal of traditional gender roles, with the girls playing the football game while the male students (or sometimes other male faculty/staff) dressed up as cheerleaders.
Some schools established the tradition in the 1970s, which is likely when Fruita Monument began its games.
This event features the junior and senior classes competing to build school spirit and raise money for the FMHS Outdoor Recreation program, which will use the funds to build a climbing wall, purchase bikes and provide scholarships for field trips.
September 11, 2025 Fruita Monument had their annual Powderpuff game at 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the school’s football field with freshmen wearing pink playing against sophomores wearing white and juniors wearing blue playing against seniors wearing black. The first game, Freshman vs. Sophomores, the Sophomores won after going into overtime. The overtime was determined by who didn’t get the most points but who got the furthest down the field towards their goalpost, which the sophomores dominated in.
After the sophomores and freshman played, the FMHS poms team and FMHS football team performed for halftime doing a combined dance routine after the FMHS poms team did a dance. The FMHS cheerleaders were on the sidelines cheering for the Freshman vs. Sophomores.
The next game was juniors vs seniors and the seniors took the win. Just like last year’s powderpuff game the upper class that was playing won. Then making the freshman and juniors lose the games another year.
The girls put on an amazing show and played hard giving such a wonderful game to watch. Watching the girls who participated with powderpuff football keep the tradition which started in the 1940’s alive was an epic experience to watch. Keeping traditions alive is important to society even if it is a small game of powderpuff football.
