Homecoming is right around the corner for the students of Kalani High School. One of the events during Homecoming Week is Powder Puff where girls play and boys coach to represent their grade in a game of flag football. Powder Puff games will be held on Sept. 13 during Advisory and Sept. 12 and 14 during lunch.

Last year, the Class of 2019 made school history by being the first non-senior class to win the championship.

“Hopefully we will win like last year,” senior Kylie Pagud said with a smile.

Senior Azure Chung was a “key component to winning” according to coach Rimmington Hew. Chung was the leading scorer last year and ended up with a total of 21 points in the championship game.

“I think the outcome will be good and all smiles even if we donʻt end up winning because we have good chemistry within the team and are just looking to play a great game and have fun,” Chung said.

Kalani High School has hosted a Powder Puff competition for three years when it was added as a homecoming event in 2016. The seniors won the championship the first two years.  In 2017 the juniors beat the seniors 28-7.

Rimmington Hew has been a coach for the current senior class all three years.

“Seniors will come up on top as two-time champs,” Hew said. “Our schemes are very well put together and our athletes execute.”

A long-time spectator, Mia Wong (11) thinks itʻs fun to see girls playing a sport dominated by boys. She also thinks her grade has a good shot at the title.

“I think the juniors are going to win it all this year,” Wong said. “The class of 2020 has a lot of school spirit and are very competitive.”

Games are played with 14 players on the field, seven from each team. Everyone has two flags, one on each side of their hip. The flags are pulled to replace tackling, and each touchdown is worth 7 points. If time runs out and the score is tied, a coin flip determines the winner.

Bailey Miyashiro has been representing the class of 2020 in Powder Puff since it has started in 2016.

“I like to participate in the class events and itʻs a good way to promote class spirit,” Miyashiro said.

Last year, sophomore Nyree Valdez watched the games. This year, watching just wasnʻt enough and she wanted to experience the action for herself.

“I joined because my friends said it was a lot of fun last year,” Valdez said. “I think we are going to win [a] majority of the games,” she added while giggling.

Christen Horita is a freshman, making this her first Powder Puff season. According to Horita, the freshmen have a shot at winning.

“Most of us don’t have much experience with playing football, but we do have athletic ability,” Horita said. “As we saw the other teams practicing, they did seem much better which could be pretty intimidating since we can barely catch and throw. But as long as we do our best it’ll be fine.”