Over the past month, Pine Creek High School has fallen into serious trouble with the Colorado High School Activities Association, or CHSAA, who governs all interscholastic activities within the state. On January 12, 2016, CHSAA placed all 22 Pine Creek sports programs on restriction, citing several recruiting violations mainly in the wrestling and football teams as the reason for the restriction. Having every single program placed on restriction is an extremely serious punishment, as it would prevent any sports team at Pine Creek from competing in state competitions, such as post-season playoffs.

In a letter from CHSAA to Pine Creek, the Commissioner, Paul Angelico, states that Pine Creek is being punished “in concert with Article 24, Rule 2420.14(e).” This rule states that a school or program can be placed on restriction due to “continued, multiple and/or severe violations of CHSAA Bylaws by school personnel and school representatives.” Prior to the restriction, Pine Creek’s wrestling program had been placed on probation; probation is a lesser punishment than restriction. It requires that the school be notified that it “has been in serious violation of CHSAA rules,” which happened to Pine Creek on November 20th due to recruiting violations. The association also noted that the football program had also been placed on restriction previously. CHSAA’s decision to place Pine Creek on restriction came shortly after the wrestling program incurred another recruiting violation on December 18th. CHSAA rule 2420.1(b) states, “additional violations while on probation will be considered extremely serious and could lead to restriction or suspension,” so the second violation by the wrestling team is most likely what drew the restriction. While only the football and wrestling teams had had been in trouble with CHSAA, all 22 programs at Pine Creek were placed on probation because according to Paul Angelico in his letter, “these two violations are so serious that I cannot be assured that other programs do not have violations.”

Just 18 days after being put on restriction, Pine Creek had their restriction lifted. In order to have that restriction lifted, Pine Creek had to present a plan to CHSAA on how they are going to change the culture in order to comply with CHSAA rules. After Pine Creek presented the plan, CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann stated, “the plan that they have proposed to fix things seems to be a pretty strong one and should eliminate any future problems.” With Pine Creek’s removal from restriction, they are now placed on probation, essentially meaning that CHSAA will closely monitor them, and any violations will likely mean being placed back on restriction.

In the aftermath of all this, Pine Creek athletic director Matt Mahan has decided that he will step down from his role in athletics at the school, but he will still remain as an assistant principal at Pine Creek. He will finish out this year as the AD, then he will step down.  

Many people have pointed out that District 20’s open enrollment policy is evidence that Pine Creek is doing nothing wrong. However, CHSAA states, “The CHSAA supports school choice in academic pursuits and encourages its student participants to enhance their academic achievement.” Along with this, the rules state that any transfer based on “athletic purposes” will result in a loss of athletic eligibility for an amount of time for that student. Therefore,  just because the district allows students to choose which school they will attend, choosing a school that is outside of one’s designated enrollment zone primarily for sports does not comply with CHSAA rules.