LAKEWOOD — Moms from Lakewood and Arlington have been sitting in the stands, watching their sons for so long they’ve decided to strap on some cleats and see what football is all about.

In that train of thought, the Powder Puff football game between the youth football organizations of Arlington and Lakewood moms slated for July 18 at Haller Middle School was born.

“We just thought of how much fun would it be to play a game against the Lakewood Cougars’ moms,” said game organizer Kim Welton of Arlington.

After coming up with the idea, Welton and a friend got more than 30 players in about a day to participate in the game. It’s become a little more than fun and games for the contestants, who now practice three times a week and left no stone unturned to put on a better show for their public.

“We’ve got programs, announcers and advertisers,” Welton said. “And I just picked up the uniforms today. This is going to be a two-hand touch game, with some shoving.”

Welton said the idea about having the game follow flag football rules wasn’t even really under discussion.

“People would come up to me and as ‘flag football?’ and I’d tell them two-hand touch — with pads, and they’d say ‘now you’re talking,’” she said. “Nobody wants to see a bunch of moms out there playing flag football.”

Trash talk has already begun for the game between the two sides, making sure each is prepared to back it up. This has become an unexpected challenge because although watching her four boys play the sport for years, Welton said it wasn’t until she put on a pads that she realized how little she knew about the game.

“We’ve got our husbands out as coaches teaching us the proper stances and plays,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much more there was to this game than I thought just watching my boys.”

The game is for more than pride, however, as the proceeds will feed into the respective youth football programs for scholarships. Parents helping out with the program noticed a lack of support in the past year due to the struggling economy.

“In years past, we’ve been able to wing it and generate money, but things have changed,” Welton said. “We want to create more opportunities for our kids when the graduate.”

This being the first year of what Welton believes will become an annual event, a modest goal of $7,000 has been set. Ticket prices are $5 for an individual and $10 per family.

“We want to make sure we make it affordable to pack the stands and get families out to support our youth football programs,” Welton said.