Valley Chiefs Youth Football Team Asking For Help To Remain Operating

​A local youth sports team is asking for help through a difficult situation.

The Valley Chiefs are asking the public to attend an upcoming Sugarloaf Township meeting in support of the organization. Locals, a post shared on the Chief's Facebook page says, no longer want the field used b the Chief's closed.

"There have been recent attempts and now legal proceedings are in action to shut down the Chiefs based on neighboring people around the field who no longer want this non profit football organization to exist based on noice, traffic, and lights", a part of the post reads.

Those who support the Valley Chiefs are asked to attend a meeting at 7pm at the Sugarloaf Township Building on Tuesday.

The Valley Chiefs, along with the Freeland Whippets, is a non profit organization that provides a football experience to those who otherwise would be unable to participate.

When shools merged into the Hazleton Area School District, School run football teams merged into the Cougars, leaving schools such as Valley and Freeland without a sports team until reaching high school. Even then, Thousands of children would compete for one football team.

The Chiefs and Whippets are part of the Wyoming Valley Junior Football Conference (WVJFC) and play against other local school-run football teams such as the Heights Jr Grenadiers,  the Nanticoke Jr Trojans, the South Wilkes-Barre Mini Mohawks, the Mountain Top Junior Comets, and more. While the school-run teams have access to funding and an unlimited supply of potential players, the non-profit groups rely on fundraising and registration events.

The disadvantage for non-profit based organizations such as the Chiefs and the Whippets, other than a lack of funding and players, is that they generally don't own their fields, instead utilizing public parks for their practice and home games.

This unique situation means that it is possible for neighbor's complaints to potentially close down the Chiefs after existing for 51 years.