My daughter, a hardworking and dedicated student-athlete at Denison High School, was unjustly denied her rightful win at the Texas 5A, Division 2, on March 15, 2025, of the individual state championship due to a negligent decision by the Texas High School Women's Powerlifting Association (THSWPA). This event carried far greater repercussions as it also cost her and her team their well-deserved team championship which would have been the first team championship for Denison High School in any sport in over 40 years. Despite the crystal-clear evidence that the rival team, did not participate in the required official weigh-ins, the board of directors of THSWPA refused to concede to the infractions. 

There is photographic evidence that one of the rival team members was at a track meet during the weigh in period, and their head coach also admitted that his team weighed in 2 hours prior, an action which is explicitly prohibited in the bylaws in the constitution. My daughter and the athlete that were at the track meet actually tied for first place and the winner of a tie is the competitor with a lower body mass, making that official weigh in even more important! This is especially true since this athlete had weighed in at over 15 pounds heavier than my less-than-97 pound daughter for most of the season and was reported by their coach to have lost 15.4 pounds in a 7 day period to qualify for regionals, without it affecting her performance at all during that time. Finally, the rival team’s coach was performing the weigh ins and our team was not allowed to see their official weights, so there is no way to know that the .2 of a pound that my daughter allegedly outweighed their child was even her true weight.

Next, there was reassignment of judges and platforms which was perfectly choreographed in order to disqualify competition that their school did not have lifters at. The number of lifters disqualified on the platforms was excessive.

This unfortunate decision reeks of the "good ole boy" system, which we believe has unjustly favored the rival team. It sets a dangerous precedent that can potentially undermine the fair spirit of high school sports. A McCann Global Sports study revealed that such cases are not isolated, with 36% of high school sports competitions involving at least one form of rule violation (McCann, 2020).

We, therefore, seek justice on behalf of my daughter, her team, and all student athletes who have been and may be subject to such unjust circumstances due to bias or negligence. We urge the THSWPA to revisit and rectify their controversial decision, disqualify said school for their breach of rules, and set a fair example for future competitions. 

Please sign this petition and stand with us to promote fairness, integrity, and sportsmanship in all high school sports competitions.