Swampscott, Marblehead girls ready to renew gridiron rivalry

SWAMPSCOTT – The league championship is at stake for the Marblehead and Swampscott High School football teams on Thanksgiving.But the most anticipated – and the most well-attended – annual athletic tradition between the towns may be Saturday’s faceoff between senior girls in the annual Powder Puff game.”This is not like other schools’ Powder Puff,” said Swampscott co-captain Cody Kline. “They’re not nearly as competitive, not nearly as serious ? it’s the best part of senior year, but when it comes down to it, it’s like a sport.””I played in 1993 and don’t remember it being like this,” said Marblehead coach Jacqueline Bouchard. “It’s fun, spirited. It just gets the girls more into being a family.”The Swampscott-Marblehead Powder Puff flag-football game – which began in 1970, according to former Marblehead athletic director Alex Kulevich – is played annually on the Saturday before Thanksgiving between girls in the Swampscott High School and Marblehead High School senior classes.This Saturday’s game at Blocksidge Field is the culmination of four weeks of recruiting players and senior boys to help coach, and school spirit events.The annual event also regularly attracts almost as many attendees as the Thanksgiving Day game. Most importantly, the participants note, the $5 admission to the game goes to charity.This year, the Swampscott hosts chose breast cancer research as their beneficiary for the game and will also donate a portion of the proceeds to the Slow Down for Allie scholarship.Allie Castner was killed in August 2009 when a car struck the Marblehead 15 year old as she crossed Pleasant Street. She would have graduated with this year’s senior class.But anticipation for the game has built for a long time.”You look forward to it since when you come in as a freshman,” said Swampscott’s Marina Padovani. “Now, finally we got everyone together as a team.”Marblehead player Hannah Solomon agreed that the team bonding was a big part of the Powder Puff experience.”It brings our grade together,” Solomon said. “We become friends and it’s made acquaintances become really good friends.”Bouchard said that 92 of the 108 girls in the Marblehead senior class purchased jerseys to play in the game.Swampscott coach Joe Tenney said that approximately 65 of the 87 girls in the senior class will participate in the game or practices.And Kline said that they have all ordered pink Under Armour shirts and hats to support breast cancer and Nike uniforms.Both teams also head Spirit Week at their respective schools and bond over shared activities, team sweatshirts and uniforms, and other traditions.For example, the Swampscott team helped serve food at My Brother’s Table in Lynn on Veterans Day and both teams have big breakfasts scheduled for Friday morning.But the emphasis on friendship doesn’t mean that there isn’t aggressive play. The teams’ captains and coaches – six boys in the class who have to apply for the positions and selected by the team – join the faculty coaches for dinner at Bertucci’s the Wednesday before the game.”I think it will help enforce that the goal is to stay friendly and bond,” said Kline. “There’s not going to be any actual fights, but pushing together is part of the game.”Both teams have also reported players suffering injuries. And the practices have progressed from basic clinics on throwing and catching footballs and pulling flags to running plays and team scrimmages.”We need the girls to stay positive and not kill each other,” joked Swampscott student coach Phil O’Connor.Meanwhile, the Swampscott team had double sessions all this week hoping to rebound from last year’s 41-20 defeat.And both teams are whispering unofficial “scouting reports” of their foes, reporting rumors of extra practices, the arms of quarterbacks and the strength of the defensive line.”It’s physical, it’s rough, it’s fun,” said Swampscott’s Kline. “It’s no joke, it’s very serious at our school.”Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].