One parent says his son is being denied the opportunity to compete as a result.

Chris Howard, a former youth wrestling coach, claims his son Craig, a senior at Pine Valley, wanted to wrestle in his senior but is now unable to do so.

Howard coached Craig when he was a youth wrestler. He reports he had five years at the helm of the local youth program that featured close to 20 wrestlers.

Craig Howard had considerable success at the youth level, according to his father. Over seven years of youth wrestling, Craig was top five in the state multiple times.

Craig Howard, left, and his father Chris, right, are pictured after a top-5 finish in a youth wrestling competition.

Chris Howard asked the district to allow for his son to wrestle last year, and again this year, with the Gowanda program but has been denied because the district does not currently offer the sport.

Among the reasons Chris Howard claims he was given for Pine Valley not pursuing a wrestling program at all, either on its own or as a shared program, include budgetary and transportation issues, as well as the lack of a youth program currently since Chris stepped down from coaching.

Chris Howard also claims the district said if Craig was allowed to participate with another school, other athletes would need to be given the same opportunity in other sports too, which the district is not prepared to allow at this time.

“We shouldn’t stop a kid from playing a sport simply to avoid having to say yes to others,” Chris Howard told the OBSERVER. He also noted that he has had supporters in the wrestling community who would offer to pay for a portion of the coaching costs, limiting the cost to have Craig Howard or other Pine Valley wrestlers compete with another district.

There has not been a student at Pine Valley with an expressed desire to wrestle since the 2017-18 season as part of a shared agreement between the school and neighboring districts. Pine Valley remained entered in shared agreements for multiple years after that, with no student response.

According to Pine Valley Superintendent Bryna Moritz, the district explored entering into a shared agreement again at a board meeting before the school year began.

“Every summer, we look at opportunities for our students,” said Moritz. “Every time a parent request comes up, we do the best we can to make it happen.”

It was determined there has not been enough interest to warrant an agreement again this year. Without a shared agreement currently in place with adequate notice to Section VI before the winter sports season commencing shortly, it is unlikely to change this year.

The district is prepared to revisit the issue in future years if considerable interest is presented.

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