On March 20, Granite Bay High School students were looking forward to watching junior and senior girls get dirty on the football field and seeing guys don cheerleading skirts during Powderpuff.

Each year the game has caused injuries, even though student government and the administration work hard to achieve safety.

During practices and on game day, players were constantly reminded of the rules and regulations by administrators and were given mouth guards to minimize the amount of accidents on the field.

But this year, a situation arose prior to the game that sparked a new dilemma.

Just minutes before game time, the junior team lost a teammate because of alcohol consumption.

The administration heard from anonymous sources that girls on the junior team had been drinking.

Although several different people were allegedly drinking, only one girl was caught and taken out of the game.

“The person (who was drinking) was very out there and boisterous about it,” assistant principal Brian McNulty said.

This behavior caused administrators to investigate further.

“We followed up by using a breathalyzer and came up with positive hits,” McNulty said.

Many GBHS students were completely oblivious to the players’ drinking and were shocked to find out about it.

“After all the hard work we’d done, I was shocked to hear people were drinking,” junior Powderpuff player Jillian Halverstadt said. “We were all taking this pretty seriously.”

Student government adviser Tamara Givens has played a big role in coordinating Powderpuff for years. This was a brand new situation for her to deal with.

“We’ve never had (this) problem before,” Givens said.

Although students have been caught drinking while watching the football games or at school dances, many felt Powderpuff was not an event that anyone would want to drink at.

“Kids decorate the school, go to (the) team dinner and get excited with their friends,” Givens said. “Generally they don’t need to drink on top of that to have a good time.”

Junior Erica Azevedo said her teammates drank to calm their nerves before the game.

“They thought one shot would boost their energy and make the game less scary,” Azevedo said.

Regardless of their reasoning for drinking, Azevedo and many others were upset at the effects it had on the game.

Junior offense coach Ian Rhodes said the game’s outcome - the seniors won 18-0 - would have been different if the player had stayed in the game.

“She was (a) starting player and she was pretty good,” Rhodes said. “Although our (second string) did well, the score would have been different (if we had our starting player).”

Junior player Elica Aramesh agreed with Rhodes, and said the game’s outcome would have been different because there were stressful last-minute changes that needed to be made.

“Many plays had to be changed at the last second,” Aramesh said. “(But) our second string player did an amazing job throughout the game.”

There was only one other person who played the same position as the girl who was caught drinking, so the second-string player was in the entire game.

The juniors were proud of her stamina and endurance, but they said the game might have been different if they had two players instead of one for that particular position.

Junior Ally Grein thought the juniors had a chance of winning before the drinking suspension.

“We lost one of our best players, and she threw the game for us in a way,” Grein said.

Aramesh viewed it as a selfish action, because the player did not consider the consequences it would have on the entire team.

McNulty said people were upset at him, but that he needed to do his job regardless. Although he knew that it might have changed the game, he said he saw the juniors having a good time.

“It did put a damper on things, but I think everyone had fun,” McNulty said. “I saw 200 girls running faster than ever before, and coaches having fun getting everyone in the game.”

One of the main reasons that the player had to be taken out of the game was because of safety.

Administrators work especially hard to maintain safety during the Powderpuff game. A physician is always on hand, and ice is available on the sidelines.

But drinking alcohol before the game created a huge safety hazard.

“My biggest concern was that the girls were putting themselves in danger medically,” McNulty said. “Alcohol slows down everything, and can cause people to do things they normally wouldn’t on the field.”

In fact, drinking before a sports game or any type of physical activity can have several different negative impacts.

According to Brendan Murphy of the Alcohol & Substance Abuse Prevention Program, alcohol consumption before a game can cause both short-term and long-term damage.

It puts people at greater risks for muscle injuries because it masks pain, which may lead to a delaying of treatment.

It reduces endurance, slows reactions and creates greater body heat loss. Alcohol also promotes water loss, leading to dehydration.

Junior Megan Gaschen didn’t understand why team members would drink before they needed to play a physical sport.

“I don’t know why anyone would ever want to risk (all the physical complications), as well as risking being taken out of the game,” Gaschen said.

Givens said the worst part was that the player didn’t get to experience Powderpuff.

“It’s unfortunate that she didn’t get to play,” she said. Givens, as well as many others, were surprised to hear that this incident occurred.

“We’ve never known about it, we’ve never heard about it, and we’ve never caught anybody on the teams,” she said.