ORWIGSBURG — J.J. Fasnacht has a middle-school daughter who’s heavily involved in AAU basketball.
He has a younger son who competes in baseball, football and wrestling.
He has a career as a school administrator, a job that has evolved into one with more duties.
And he has been a head wrestling coach for nine seasons overall, the last three at Blue Mountain.
Pulled in so many directions, Fasnacht had to make a choice. He chose his family.
Both Fasnacht and co-athletic director Harry Myers confirmed Saturday that Fasnacht has stepped down as head wrestling coach at Blue Mountain High School.
“When I took the job three years ago, I couldn’t anticipate how active my kids would be in athletics,’’ Fasnacht said.
The coach said he doesn’t want to miss any more of his kids’ activities because those years are flying by.
At the same time, he wants to step aside so that the Eagles can find a coach who can dedicate the countless offseason hours that the program deserves. Fasnacht said he would like to stay involved as a volunteer or assistant coach and continue to run his biddy program but have the flexibility to be there for his children.
“I love the kids involved (in the Blue Mountain program) and the people involved,’’ Fasnacht said. “I don’t want to shortchange anybody.’’
This past season, Fasnacht led Blue Mountain to an 18-2 overall record, 7-0 in Schuylkill League Division I. The Eagles won the league’s division title and team championship at the Schuylkill League Tournament. Blue Mountain also reached the semifinals of the District 11 Class AAA Team Wrestling Championships.