In 2023, the Our Perfect Warrior club raised $1,300 from the annual Power Puff game, which went directly to families in Loudoun County impacted by cancer. The Our Perfect Warrior foundation was founded in 2018 by Riley Castellano, in honor of her mother who passed away due to breast cancer. Additionally, in her junior year, Castellano and her friend Anna Lockhart started the Our Perfect Warrior club at Woodgrove to help families support their loved ones as they fight through cancer. Last year, the club took on the role of hosting Power Puff, an event where junior and senior girls play flag football. The proceeds from the evening go to the foundation, including money made from ticket and t-shirt sales.
For the past two years, senior Audrey Smith has been president of the club. Smith’s family is friends with the Castellanos, and she was asked to become president after her sophomore year. Smith enjoys running the club and “getting to help people in need because it’s a really touching organization.”
In preparation for this year’s event, Our Perfect Warrior club members have been working diligently behind the scenes. Their first club meeting this year was filled with poster making and brainstorming advertisement strategies to bring people to the event. “A lot goes into planning this event, but it is really fun to do with friends and club members,” Smith shared.
This year’s Power Puff is hosted in October in congruence with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Up until last school year, Power Puff had been hosted by the Junior Class Council. However, the junior class gave it to the Our Perfect Warrior club after 2022. “Power Puff is usually in October, and it’s about women’s strength and women’s ability to fight, so we thought that it would work with our club,” Smith explained. The club had been working on ways to fundraise, and this event offered a great opportunity to get involved in the community and collect money for a good cause.
Power Puff also falls within this year’s Homecoming Spirit Week. To supplement the game on Wednesday, October 16, the Woodgrove Student Council Association made that day a pink out theme. The student body has been encouraged to wear pink to school to show support for breast cancer awareness.
Players and coaches have been practicing, drawing up plays, and getting ready for the event. Senior Kate Thurman is the vice president of the Our Perfect Warrior club and is also a two-year participant in Power Puff. Thurman has always loved football and was interested in playing flag football last year. “I tried it and loved it,” Thurman stated. She also began playing in a girls flag football league. “They’re trying to make [flag football] a VHSL Sport, so I am going to be part of that movement and now I play every Sunday,” Thurman explained. Senior Morgan Musselmen also plays on the travel team, and Thurman is excited to see how they will work together. “I’ve learned a lot about teamwork in football, and I am excited to win this year,” Thurman commented.
Everyone is encouraged to come to the event on October 16. Whether you are coming to support the girls who are participating or to support the fight for breast cancer, it will be an entertaining evening. If you cannot attend the event, you can support Our Perfect Warrior by donating or wearing pink during the month of October.
