As the intense rains died down the morning of Saturday, Nov. 3, the senior class woke up to 14 kegs on Lantern Point to pregame the annual Beach Residents Organization Powderpuff. The event features the participation of females from the senior class in a double-elimination flag-football tournament. This year, participants made up 14 different teams with 20-30 girls each and sported t-shirts with self-given names on the back usually featuring a sexual innuendo of their actual names. Some examples of names donned by students were: Morgasm, Taywhore, Ericatile Dysfunction and Cum on Eileen.
At noon, the senior class made their way from the beach area to Veterans Park to begin the long-anticipated tournament. Lasting about two hours, the event began to take a downward spiral due to excessive violence both toward opposing players and student referees. Officers from the Fairfield Police Department were present throughout the entire event and shared concerns with BRO members regarding the violence. The event was supposed to last until 4 p.m., but was shut down prematurely around 2:30 p.m.
Fairfield PD Lieutenant Robert Kalamaras explained, “It is our job to ensure a safe event. Someone reported to officers that a disagreement became physical between a coach and a referee over a call that the referee made. Apparently witnesses said the male left the park prior to officers’ intervention, and the referee (victim) did not want to pursue an investigation.”
Senior Nicole Porter was at the event, “Basically there were a lot of fights on and off the field and lots of people were literally doing lines of coke [cocaine] at the games.”
Kalamaras claimed that Fairfield PD officers were unaware that there were drugs at the event.
The day concluded with a three-way tie between “undefeated teams.” However, it’s important to note that games that ended in a tie were not allowed to enter overtime and were settled by a coin toss.
“There was never actually a winner, but they gave the trophy to the Houston Sexans,” said Porter. “There were three undefeated teams that should’ve played each other but it didn’t happen because it got shut down.”
“Unlike in past events, the games were very disorganized,” Kalamaras wrote in an email to The Mirror. “According to the officers that were on the scene, three teams ended up being undefeated. Alex [Co-President of BRO] could not determine which two teams should be in the championship game, so BRO called an end to the event because people were getting too emotionally involved. He [Alex] consulted with officers before he made the call.”
Senior Brittany Fasanelli echoed Porter’s sentiments. “On the BRO Facebook page there were tons of comments going back and forth about the event. It was explained to us that BRO needed to mediate ‘serious situations’ with the Fairfield PD and our class,” said Fasanelli.
Additionally, the event had been off to a rocky start before the weekend even began as fall athletes could not participate in the event due to sporting games and practices. Tense online conversations took place between members of the senior class on the Fairfield University 2018-2019 BRO Facebook page, before the actual event took place.
Each participant paid $15 if they paid dues to BRO at the start of the semester, and $30 if they did not. All money went to the t-shirts for players and kegs at the Point. Due to some teams being disqualified for violence, other teams only having the opportunity to play one game and the overall lack of a clear winner, students are frustrated with the money they spent on Powderpuff.
“We were all guaranteed to play two games and we paid dues and an extra $15 for this event,” said Porter. “My team, along with at least three others, didn’t even get to complete one game, it was kind of a joke. It was still fun, but we didn’t get what we paid for or what we were promised.”
“Overall, I still had a great time, I just wish we were told what was going on during the event and that we were able to play the entire time because that’s ultimately what we paid for,” said Fasanelli.
“I was really disappointed that BRO cut Powderpuff short. It was an event all seniors were looking forward to participating in and many didn’t even get to play a full game, which is frustrating because we practiced and even paid to play (senior dues),” said Amy Polewaczyk ‘19.
“I think a lot of it had to do with some incidents that occurred between players and coaches which is unfortunate because it ultimately ruined it for all,” said Polewaczyk who played on the San Francisco 69ers, “I hope that the event continues on for grades to come and that it’s organized more thoroughly next time because many are upset with the outcome.”
Seniors Alexis Dizenzo and Alexander Griffin, Co-Presidents of BRO, declined to comment to The Mirror.
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