By: Scott Bentley | C&G Newspapers | Published September 26, 2025
WARREN/BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Warren Regina defeated Bloomfield Hills Marian in the two schools’ annual powder-puff game by a score of 14-0 on Sunday, Sept. 14.
Every September, the seniors from both teams face off, and this win gives Regina nine straight victories. The school couldn’t be more excited.
“This is one of our biggest events. It’s something that our freshmen come in looking forward to their senior year,” Regina teacher and senior moderator Rosemary Michels said. “Powder-puff is early in the school year and it just has a buzz and excitement in the building.”
The long-standing tradition has been around since the 1960s, and is truly for anyone and everyone to play.
“All seniors are encouraged to participate. Whether they’ve played a sport in their life or not,” Michels said. “We also have kids who come in and serve as managers and they are awesome. The feeling of belonging and togetherness is the whole goal of powder-puff.”
The event has transcended just the two schools and now is truly a communal event. This year’s game was played at Detroit Catholic Central’s field so that it could accommodate the crowd. Alumni from both schools come back every year to watch and share stories about their senior powder-puff games as well.
“We have alumni coming back year after year watching and cheering,” Michels said. “They form an alumni fan tunnel at halftime for the team to run back through which is a cool experience too.”
There’s a production behind the game. It has become such a big event that the meetings to begin outlining the details for the weekend begin in early June.
“It is a production. There’s so many things that go into it. We always do a rally the Friday before it. They do presentations to their parents and the school and we have a DJ. It’s a fun pep rally to get everybody going,” Michels explained. “We have a mass together and they get to wear their uniforms.
“It’s really nice,” he said.
Scott Smith was Regina’s head coach this year for the first time after being an assistant coach last year. Smith started coaching the girls in July with around 100 girls and after eight weeks of practice the team came out on top.
“Everyone came together and it turned out as good as expected,” Smith said. “The girls did a really good job and put in a lot of hard work and the outcome shows the hard work that they did put in.”
One of the best parts of the experience is seeing the growth and development of the players over the course of two months. Implementing a game plan and being rewarded with a shutout victory is a great way for the girls to start off their senior year.
“When it started out we told the girls that the offensive side of the ball was going to be kind of slow moving, but if (Marian) can’t score then they can’t win,” Smith said. “They put in the hard work and at the end they started clicking.
“I’ve coached boys football for 15-20 years and this is probably some of the most fun I’ve had, is coaching this,” he said.
The game is ingrained into the identity of both schools and will be something that the participants and viewers will remember for the rest of their lives. The impact on everyone is apparent.
“We really focus on our sisterhood here,” Michels said. “One awesome thing about powder-puff, across the generations and across the years we are Regina sisters and we are here to support each other. It’s a way to connect.”