Rowlett High School hosted around 30 first responders in a fitness competition with varsity football players. The student-athletes selected their law enforcement partner before competing in a series of workout challenges.
Kelin Cottrell, a senior on the varsity football team, selected Rowlett Fire Department Battalion Chief Josh Dodson.
“His energy, the way he carried himself, I knew he was a hard competitor,” Cottrell said.
Competitors tackled reps of wall sits, push-ups, pull-ups, bench presses and more, in teams of two.
“I have a torn MCL and he knew that, but he didn’t let me back out of any challenges,” Cottrell said. “He still pushed me, he still cheered me on, he was like, ‘You got this.’ He didn’t second-guess me or anything like that.”
This annual competition began in 2024 and took a break in 2025 before picking back up this year. The fire and police departments share a friendly rivalry, which makes for a compelling competition.
“It’s all in good fun, and just the normal fire and police kind of poking at each other back and forth,” said Interim Fire Chief Mitch Randles. “But yeah, there’s always a rivalry in anything we do.”
However, the connections and relationships made between the local youth and first responders extend far beyond friendly competition.
“It’s a lot more than just a competition, right?” said Chief of Police Michael Denning. “It’s really about partnering with the school administration and getting the kids involved in healthy competition and seeing the officers not as officers, but as teammates, as mentors, in a non-enforcement capacity.”
This event helped break down the traditional barrier between local teenagers and law enforcement officers for this group of athletes.
“Even with how much they work, they still took the time to come and have fun, compete, get us to the next level, and help us mentally and physically,” Cottrell said.
Winners had the chance to win a number of donated gift cards from Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane’s, Little Caesars and Walmart.
Both departments plan on attending varsity games this fall to support their partners from the sidelines.
“We follow the Rowlett football team and there’s a lot of discussion about their games after a big win among the department,” Denning said. “We always get the updates, and we love seeing these kids out there competing, having fun and winning, hopefully.”
