Temperatures dropped to the low 50s as the women of Alpha Phi sorority lined up at dusk and prepared to face their opponent, Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, in the final game of football for the title of Powder-puff champions at CSUN’s North field on Saturday.
“We wanted to get together and practice, but we never got time,” said Alpha Phi sister, Allison Sullivan, who’s a junior psychology major. “We came out here really strong and just tried to keep it clean, cause everyone fights if they get really into it. We tried to pick up the flags, after taking them down and say sorry if it got rough, but for the most part we just had fun.”
The football game was the last stage of the fundraising championship hosted by Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. Despite Kappa Kappa Gamma’s strong resistance, Alpha Phi succeeded in winning the game for the second time since 2006, with a score of 6-0. However, Kappa Kappa Gamma won the entire championship because they raised the most money of the seven sororities that participated in the Zeta Beta Tau fundraiser.
Alpha Phi came in the second place with Delta Zeta coming in third.
The event was organized as the final part of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity’s annual philanthropy program to help raise funds for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Aside from the tournament entrance fee that all sororities had to pay, members of Zeta Beta Tau raised funds by auctioning themselves off as coaches to the sororities. The bids ranged from $50 to $350. At the conclusion of the game, fraternity brothers also held a raffle to help collect money for the cause.
According to information from the American Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Institute, the syndrome claims about 2,500 infants’ lives every year in the United States. Although extensive research has been done, it is still unknown what exactly causes the sudden death of some infants in their sleep.
“We started this program four years ago,” said Eugene Lev, a Zeta Beta Tau brother, who is a business finance major. “We had a fraternity brother whose nephew passed away from SIDS. We felt that we wanted to help him out, help his family out.”
This year, according to Lev, Zeta Beta Tau raised over $6,000 in donations. The money will then be sent to the SIDS Institute to provide funds for research toward finding a cure for the syndrome.
“The school helps us out,” said Lev. “A.S. funded $2,000 worth of everything we need here, so we are very thankful to the school.”
Kappa Kappa Gamma, the 2007 winners of the fundraising championship will get to keep the 5-foot Powder-puff trophy for a year, until the next championship in 2008. The plaques on the prize indicate their predecessors who have won in the past. In 2004 Kappa Kappa Gamma held the award for the first time until Alpha Xi Delta won the championship in 2005, followed in 2006 by Alpha Phi.
Phi Psi Omega sorority, a newcomer to the tournament, did not advance to the finals this year but CSUN alumna and one of the founders, Cossondra Herren, remains optimistic about the future tournaments.
“We are very competitive and we love it, this gives us a chance to bond and be athletic,” she said. “We were happy to be here, so hopefully we’ll come back next year.”
