Seniors Win Thanksgiving Classic

By Cora Myers (Junior), Javon LaPrade (Sophomore)

The Thanksgiving Classic, previously known as the Powder Puff Game, is an annual sporting event between girls of the junior and senior class that students and faculty alike look forward to. This year, Obama’s game was played on Wednesday, November 23. The senior class came out as victors, bringing them to a 1 win-1 loss record in Thanksgiving Classic games.

The games are an annual tradition at many high schools and universities. The term originates from powder puff, the soft material used for the application of cosmetic face powder.

More recently, a large movement of students and faculty denouncing the term as sexist has propelled schools like Obama to rename it the Thanksgiving Classic.

One of the first powder puff football games was played on October 20th, 1945, in South Dakota at Eastern State Teachers College. Activities had been cancelled because most of the men had been drafted in World War II—Only three men had enrolled for the fall term. For a lack of school events, a football game between
girls was scheduled.

The recently renamed Thanksgiving Classic is a flag football game played at Obama the day before Thanksgiving break. It is played during the school day and tends to be the hallmark school year event. The junior and senior girls face off after being coached the week before by their classmates. The game is a long-standing tradition and causes a buzz in the weeks prior.

This year, the events of the game caused a similar buzz. Both teams were neck and neck for most of the game, with the juniors pulling ahead before the fourth quarter. At the final time, both teams were tied in points, so they had to participate in a contest of field goals: the team with the most made out of five won. In the end, the seniors came out on top. Malerie Branson, a player on the winning senior team, said, “This year was different because we had new players and new positions. It was better because we knew what our team could do and the coaches made position changes that I believe bettered the team.”

Last year’s game was not a good representation of the years before. With a small crowd and very little publicity, the game did not pull in as much revenue as the school would have hoped for. The game itself, in past years, has been a source of funding for the senior events, such as Prom, and other school activities.

This year, the student council stepped up and got more involved. They sold Obama merchandise morning of the game and concessions during. They were successful, netting more return than last year.

This event marks something of a return to Obama tradition. Coming out of the pandemic, we saw so many routine events lose popularity and fade out of existence. It is reassuring that the Thanksgiving Classic is not among those events.

Mr. Miller, longtime referee of the Thanksgiving Classic Game remarks, “I love it. The game is one of the best traditions we have at this school.”