The girls put aside the make-up. The guys trade in the football for pom-poms. The “gender switch up,” known as the powder puff football game, is later today.

Girls take on the role of football players and prepare to defeat the opposing team. So far the junior girls have practiced nearly three weeks, ready to take down the senior girls, but some still believe that seniors, with very little practice under their belt, will beat the juniors.

“The seniors will dominate because they have the rawest and the most athletic girls,” said senior Xavier Melvin.

The boys, however, have had several cheer practices and admit that cheer is not something someone can pick up after one day. Despite that, the boys were considered to have some type of second nature to the sport. “They caught on really fast,” said varsity coach Pauline Juarez. “This year’s squad is the best at stunting.” And although they are said to have a “short attention span” she treats them the same way as her varsity cheer team.

At first, some boys originally thought that cheer was all about just lifting the flyers and throwing them up, but that thought was soon discovered wrong. “It’s more difficult than I anticipated,” Melvin said. “If one person is off-count, the flyer will be off balance and someone can get hurt.”

           When everyone is on the same page this creates confidence in their team. “I love my team,” he said. He also chanted their team motto, “One band, one sound!”

The junior girls also have confidence in their team. “We have smaller and quicker girls,” said junior Viviana Vasquez. She also explains that they have had more practices than the seniors.

But the seniors disagree. The chemistry among the players is one of the qualities that they hope brings them a victory. “We are close, knowing each other from either classes or sports,” said senior Angelique Wilson. In the physical aspect, she explains that they have more speed and aggression. “We don’t want to get beat by 2013.”

These opinions are soon to be tested at the powder puff game, which will be held in the stadium today after school. Admission is $4 at the gate with school I.D.  Let the battle between the juniors and seniors begin!