JUPITER, Fla. – Powder Puff football is officially dead.

The last school in the nation to host an annual girls powder puff tackle football game is calling off the 50-year tradition over concerns about potential injuries during the wildly popular event, the Associated Press reports.

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At Jupiter High School, junior and senior girls have played each other in tackle football every year for the last half-century, with boys dressing up as cheerleaders in tight shorts and crop tops to cheer them on.

The game typically packs the stadium and helped to raise $7,000 last year, but school officials contend the pads and other gear the girls borrow from the boys and a local youth football league do not fit properly and opted to cancel the game this year to prevent injuries, according to the news service.

“Student safety is my first priority,” Jupiter principal Dan Frank said in a prepared statement cited by WPTV. “The narrow window of time for student preparation and practice, and the limited availability of properly fitting safety equipment would put our students at risk.”

“I am and will continue to work with student leaders to move forward with a possible flag football game or an alternative activity,” he wrote.

Students and their parents aren’t taking the decision lightly.

“The game makes our town special. It is a once in a lifetime or maybe twice in a lifetime opportunity. You can’t come back when you are 30 and play,” said Haley Osborn, a 17-year-old senior who was looking forward to her final game.

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“It is almost like a Friday night in Texas. Everyone comes out to watch the game. That is why you see the uproar. That’s what this game means to this town,” parent Marcy Murphy said.

Nearly 3,000 people have signed on to a Change.org petition to “Save JHS Powderpuff!”

“What makes it a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience is that a full-contact tackle powderpuff football game isn’t done anywhere else in the NATION. As many schools that did play tackle slipped away over the years and changed to flag or canceled the games entirely, Jupiter High has stood its ground and is now the lone reminder that girls can – and deserve- to play tackle football just as much as boys do,” the petition read.

“One game a year, in one school where it means something to the entire town should not be a blemish but instead an accomplishment! With girls all being fit for proper pads, learning how to tackle correctly from the boy’s team and completing all the necessary paperwork, the correct precautions are being taken and have been taken ever since the introduction of the game in 1965, with no serious injuries on record.”

Students told the Associated Press that Frank suggest alternatives to fill the void left by canceling the game, and reportedly suggested flag football or a game of kickball, but the girls weren’t interested.

“We are not in elementary school,” student Megan Mendoza said.

Several students and parents also believe the district’s concerns about safety are overblown.

“The car ride to the game is more dangerous,” mother Lori Walsh told the AP, adding that girls suffer injuries in other sports like basketball and soccer but district officials have not yet eliminated those sports.

Julie Wright, a 1989 Jupiter High School graduate, said she believes school officials are depriving junior and senior girls of one of the most memorable experiences they will have in high school.

“It is nothing you can experience anywhere else,” she said. “I don’t remember the pep rallies or the shows we had at school. I couldn’t tell who did what. But power-puff, I remember.”