the Rice Thresher

Issue date: 9/5/08 Section: Sports

Last season's Oct. 7 match-up between Sid and Brown gets physical as Brown senior Kristin Hill tries to take a flag off of a Sid player. Brown won the contest by a score of 14-6.

For most Rice students, powderpuff is a unifying display of college dominance and pride, but for female varsity athletes, choosing to play is a decision that has consequences far beyond representing one's college.

The game's worst kept secret asks Division-I athletes to choose between participating without the approval of their coaches or missing the chance to take part in one of the most popular aspects of college life. Without knowing how deceptive the title "powderpuff" is at Rice, many freshman athletes join the squad with good intentions.

"We are making an effort to integrate ourselves in our colleges," said one member of the varsity track team who chose to remain anonymous. "People shouldn't be against that."

The people most ardently against it are varsity coaches who have a responsibility to keep their athletes safe. But while their involvement is kept secret, it is widely recognized that many varsity athletes are part of powderpuff squads.

"It is a lie of omission," junior Richard Solis, Brown powderpuff coach, said. "We don't go around telling coaches because some of the athletes are the best players. Most of us [powderpuff] coaches don't mention it if we don't have to."

While some powderpuff coaches claim to get permission from varsity teams before utilizing scholarship athletes, there is usually some clandestine piece to the story.

"The coaches last year expected me not to play," one member of the swim team said. "It is more or less 'don't ask, don't tell.'"

With little to no communication between varsity players and coaches on the subject, the safety of the powderpuff players lies squarely on their own shoulders and those of their student coaches.

"As a coach and as a friend, we can't put these girls in a situation where they get hurt," sophomore Jeremy Goodreau, a coach at Wiess, said. "I don't want to see any of those girls lose scholarship." Coaches are aware that at times their players have more to worry about than the outcome of the game. They often choose to keep their athletes away from high intensity positions like the offensive or defensive line. However, as history has shown time and time again, no one on the powderpuff field is free from the risk of injury.

Continued...

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