OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Gowanda softball pitcher Addison Kota delivers a pitch during a game against Silver Creek on April 20 at Gowanda High School.

GOWANDA — With a new sports season underway, the Gowanda Central School District addressed a common concern from parents and athletes — the district’s lack of an athletic trainer.

“After a couple things happened last week, I fielded a few calls from parents surprised that we didn’t have an athletic trainer on staff,” Superintendent Robert Anderson said at a recent Board of Education meeting.

Anderson explained the reason why the district is currently without a trainer — despite having one in the past — is the lack of interest in the shared position through BOCES the school hoped to utilize. A similar position, shared between Dunkirk and Silver Creek schools through BOCES, is held by Erik Barkley, formerly of SUNY Fredonia. The role was previously held by Cleon Clayton. Silver Creek Athletic Director Sean Helmer called the position “a no-brainer for us” and raved about the importance of schools having a trainer on staff.

Anderson spoke to the difficulty to fill the position Gowanda hoped to utilize. “I don’t know what the issues are, but nonetheless, we’ve had problems attracting people to that,” Anderson said.

Gowanda also recently solicited applicants for its own athletic trainer and received no response. The district also reached out to the University at Buffalo Orthopedics, but also received no interest from that department.

“At this point, we’re working on it because when we think about it, it really is a student safety issue. Besides just taping up ankles, there’s a lot of things this person could do for us,” Anderson said. He later noted assistance to coaches with health and nutrition, as well as emergency training as benefits to having a trainer on staff.

The board also raised the idea of increased training for coaches or one of the district nurses, if they express an interest, as an alternative to hiring a full-time trainer.

The district plans to continue to advertise for an athletic trainer through BOCES and to evaluate potentially hiring a trainer as a district employee. “I just want to make sure the board and the public know we’re thinking about it, looking at it, and we’ll come back to you with some kind of solution at some point,” Anderson said.