At the high school, a powerlifting team is offered to students. A majority of students in the team is boys, but as the years go on, more and more girls join the club. Some powerlifting meets include a Junior Women’s division, for underclassmen, but not all meets offer this.

“I didn’t go because there was only a woman’s division. I knew if I went there was no chance of me even placing or being in the top 10, because I’m going against senior girls that are 10 times better than me. So when I’m talking about being discouraged, I was discouraged in going because there was no point in going cause I like winning.” Kailey Howell, 10, said.

Of course with only having a Women’s division available at local meets, it can be challenging for the girl lifters; especially the underclassmen girls. Some choose not to go just because of the challenges that they have to face.

 “I think it’s harder because you have freshmen and sophomores competing against seniors that have been doing it a lot longer.” Isabella Katzer, 10, said.

With having the challenge of the women’s divisions, the upperclassmen are going to be stronger than the majority of the freshman and sophomores that go to compete. Nearly doubling their lifting numbers and knocking underclassmen from the chance of placing at meets.

“There are not a lot of girls that compete in powerlifting, but in recent years there has been an influx of women, especially younger women, who want to compete but when they go against people that are senior who are doubling their maxes, and discourages them from pursuing what they want. They might drop out because there is not an adequate amount of competition for people at their skill level.” Howell explained.

Of course skill level has a big impact on our lifters, with having a younger group of girls it tends to be more of a challenge to even place. Allowing more opportunities for girls all over the Johnson County area to place in competitions and even do really well at state will encourage more girls to participate in lifting.