Powder Puff, the all-female flag football team at Rancho Cucamonga High School, is making its second year around since Covid. The senior and junior teams are training to face off on Friday, March 17.

Returning player, senior Sofia Vasquez is starting this year strong, looking to redeem herself from her junior year loss. Vasquez said she feels very confident going into her second year of Powder Puff.

“I’m expecting to actually win this time. Last year we couldn’t have long practices, but there’s been huge improvements to our sport as a whole,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez originally joined because she’s always wanted to play football, though she knew it might’ve been dangerous she was ready to tackle the sport.

In her junior year, Vasquez said the choice to join the team was one of her best decisions, leading to many new friends and growing to be closer to all of the girls.

“Being in Powder Puff gave us a special bond. Our team grew so much as the season went on,” Vasquez said.

As for this year, Vasquez is focusing on change, as she believes the team is much stronger this year than before.

“I feel like we’re gonna do really good because we have a lot more soccer girls who are joining, they’ll make good wide receivers and running backs,” Vasquez said.

Along with this, Vasquez is hoping to get more practice time, as last year the practices were very short. However, starting this year they haven’t had much luck with practicing because of the recent rain and snow.

Vasquez is also hoping to change up her position from last year, that being wide receiver.

“I want to play starting linebacker; I wanna have fun and take down a few juniors in the process,” Vasquez said.

The last thing Vasquez is looking forward to is the new uniforms. As a junior, she was forced to wear the pink jersey, which she customized to have the number ten on the back, though this year there will be some changes.

“This year I’m getting the number eleven and it should be black and purple, which I like more because it matches with the school colors,” Vasquez said.

Although Vasquez loves Powder Puff and all that comes with it, she does have some unfavorable feelings towards it and the differences with football.

First of all, Vasquez wishes the sport was not flag-football, though she understands why and is content with it, she would prefer Powder Puff to be more like its predecessor with tackling each other to the ground.

Vasquez also dislikes the name “Powder Puff” altogether, as she views it as almost childlike.

“The fact that it’s called ‘Powder Puff’ is demeaning,” Vasquez said.

All in all, Vasquez is very confident for the season and the game against the juniors is approaching very rapidly.