Most people have heard of powderpuff football, but no competition is quite like this. Each year, the Memorial Student Center committee MSC Freshmen in Service and Hosting (FISH), puts on an all-FLO powderpuff football tournament in order to support a local nonprofit in the Bryan/College Station community. *Before we dive into FLO Bowl and what an amazing impact it has on our community, let’s go over some useful terms.
- Freshman Leadership Organizations(FLOs) are something unique to Texas A&M to allow new students an opportunity to develop leadership skills and meet like minded individuals on campus.
- Powderpuff football is a game of flag football where the girls on the team play the game and the boys perform a cheer routine.
FLO Bowl is an opportunity for all of the FLOs at Texas A&M to create a team and work together to collect the most donations and dominate the field.
In preparation for the competition, each FLO works to train a football and cheer team for several weeks leading up to the event. After countless hours of practice, the 23 FLOs come together early on a Sunday morning to engage in a bracket-style tournament. Each FLO is randomly matched to another to play a short powderpuff game, attempting to advance on to the next round. The final team remaining is declared winner, receiving bragging rights until the next year’s tournament. In addition, the cheer teams have a chance to show off their routine for several judges (including one of Texas A&M’s very own Yell Leaders), of which a winning team is also selected.
MSC FISH puts on FLO Bowl annually to support the nonprofit organization, Carly’s Way. Gaby Rivera, one of MSC FISH’s sophomore assistant directors, says, “Carly’s Way is an animal rescue that supports animal shelters by supplying them with food, supplies, medication, toys, and pet beds.” She was very excited to share how many of the FLOs contributed to the donation drive to serve the community and earn points for the cheer competition.
The operations on the day of are extremely important to the event’s success and are led by MSC FISH’s Development subcommittee. Rivera was in charge of all the logistics leading up to the event with the help of the freshmen in her subcommittee. They also worked during the competition in order to make sure that any unexpected problems were solved as quickly and smoothly as possible. When asked why she sought this position, Rivera said she “ I knew that this would be a position that I would enjoy, and I love that we get to plan such big, impactful events.” She also spoke on how rewarding it was to see all of her hard work come to fruition through FLO Bowl.
FLO Bowl is not only an opportunity for all-FLO unity, but a chance for the freshmen in MSC FISH to plan an event and develop their leadership skills. Leadership is a big focus of the MSC and FLO Bowl is a great example of the many exceptional programs that the MSC puts on.