Each year in the spring Spectrum High School hosts a PowderTuff tournament. It is a long standing tradition at Spectrum. During PowderTuff teams of boys are assembled together and they compete in a volleyball tournament. Boys in each grade put together their own teams of at least eight people. Once the teams were put together they have a chance to set up practice times to get some experience before the big day. Each team also got to choose a team name and could coordinate outfits so they all matched. On the day of PowderTuff there was a bracket made to show who would be playing who. The teams competed and there were some close calls. In the end the winners were the Pink Panthers, a team of Seniors.

“We played well. We won so that’s good,” Max Mazuir, a member of the Pink Panthers, said

There was a range of teams spanning all the way from Freshmen to Seniors to even teachers. Spectrum has had a staff team compete in PowderTuff in the past and this year they decided to come together again to join in on the fun. Many of the staff members see this as an opportunity and chance to get closer to students and to show school spirit.

“I played because number one they needed me, number two it’s fun it’s always fun to compete,” Mr. Leland said.

“I blocked Mr. Nyquist it was amazing,” Mazuir said.

This year many people on opposing teams felt intimidated by one student in particular. Max Mazuir is a foreign exchange student at Spectrum this year. Max used to play volleyball and still has many skills from when he did. He played on the winning team, The Pink Panthers, and gave them an advantage with his prior volleyball skills. Even with these skills Max still says that the competition was difficult to beat.

“The team was good and the other people were actually pretty good for don’t play volleyball so no it was not too easy,” Mazuir said.

“Yeah, Max is really good,” Leland said. “Not to mention all of the towering basketball players that Max played with on that team.”

For both non volleyball players and volleyball players alike the competition was difficult. One thing that helped players feel better prepared was going to team practices before the event. Some teams did not have practices but others did. The teams who had practices hosted them at players houses or at other locations.

“We had a practice on Wednesday at one of the players houses,” Julian Peterson said. “Only a few people. And then we had one on Thursday at Adrenaline in Ramsey and they were just two hours of just basic stuff.”

Whether players practiced beforehand or not they still played their hardest on the day of PowderTuff. Students were able to move around and be active while promoting school spirit from the crowd. This Spectrum tradition is a way for students to have some healthy competition while others cheer and root for them.

“I thought it was very well done, very well put together,” Leland said. “And again it’s just a great opportunity for the students to get together along with the staff and create a cohesiveness across the across the community that we have of students as well as kind of bolster our school spirit as well.”

PowderTuff was put on by student council and enjoyed by students and staff. Spectrum hopes to continue this tradition in the future due to its success this year.