Houston volleyball players played in cancer awareness event. MSHSAA stripped their title.

When three members of the Houston High School volleyball team competed in a charity event, they thought they were helping raise money for breast cancer awareness.

Little did they know that their participation in the event would result in the forfeiture of their district championship and ultimately end their season.

The Houston R-1 School District announced Wednesday that the Missouri State High School Activities Association deemed that the participation of three Houston athletes violated its by-laws and the penalty would be the forfeiture of their Class 2, District 8 volleyball match the team won on Monday against Licking.

The district said that three members of the Houston volleyball team participated in Saturday's "Volley for a Cure" co-ed volleyball tournament that was hosted by the Salem Memorial Hospital Foundation.

Despite the district making an immediate appeal, it said the athletes' participation in the event unknowingly violated MSHSAA By-Law 3.13.2.a — thus making them ineligible. The by-law reads that "a student shall neither practice nor compete as a member of a non-school team or as an individual participant in organized non-school competition in that same sport."

According to MSHSAA By-Law 1.2.3.a, as the minimum penalty for using an ineligible student during a regular season and in MSHSAA district/state series, the school is required to forfeit all contests involved, adjust its place in conference standings and/or relinquish its place in tournament standings and return team and individual awards.

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MSHSAA's website already reflects the forfeiture with Licking now crowned the district champion.

"While we are disappointed with the season-ending outcome, we are incredibly proud of our student-athletes and coaching staff," Houston Schools said in a release. "We celebrate all that the 2023 HHS volleyball team accomplished this season."

Houston's season officially ended with a 25-7-1 record. The district title would have been its ninth in school history and its first since 2006.

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Houston volleyball title stripped after participating in charity event