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TOPSHAM — Maine School Administrative District 75 board members voted in favor of new Maine Principals’ Association recommendations Thursday allowing the district to resume most fall sports.
The MPA, which governs interscholastic athletics at the high school level, has sanctioned five sports for organized competition: soccer, field hockey, cross country, golf and sideline cheering. Football and volleyball are not sanctioned for competition due to risk factors related to the nature of the sport.
Before starting any sports, the school board must vote to adopt the MPA recommendations, Superintendent Shawn Chabot said.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, fall sports had already been delayed but were scheduled to start Monday, the Chabot said. That left the school board with little time to approve the MPA recommendations and avoid pushing the start of sports back further in MSAD 75, which serves Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Harpswell and Topsham.
Geoff Godo, Mt. Ararat High School’s athletic director, said the district must decide if football and volleyball will have some modified participation that allows those teams to continue practicing.
Even if MSAD 75 decides to move forward with athletic competitions, it has to wait and see what other school districts agree to compete, Godo said. Competition schedules are being created to match up teams in the same region in order to limit bus travel.
Normally the district’s conference area stretches to Bangor, Godo said, “so we’re not going to be playing Bangor, Hampden and Brewer.”
Board member Tyler Washburn said he supports district athletes but can’t vote for recommendations he hasn’t had time to read and digest.
“I also am hesitant to vote for something tonight given that I haven’t heard from some of those student-athletes or those families who I think really could be impacted,” Washburn said.
School board member Eric Lusk said he was reluctant to kill off fall seasons for football and volleyball Thursday.
Godo clarified that while football and volleyball are not cleared for competition in the fall season, the MPA states it will potentially reinstitute those sports in the late winter or early spring.
“I want to make it clear to everybody that the concept of football and volleyball is not dead in this school year,” Godo said.
The district intents to provide training for the football players, Godo said. That could include offering touch football or seven-on-seven flag football.
“We’re coming off a state championship in football,” Godo said. “We have a lot of people who are excited about football just as I am that want to stay engaged.”
The volleyball program is provided through a cooperative with Brunswick School Department, so Godo said he will have to have talks with the neighboring school department about opportunities for those athletes.
Godo said adhering to the protocols and procedures provided by the MPA is paramount for schools to have any semblance of a fall athletic season.
Chabot added that if Sagadahoc County, where the district’s middle and highs schools are located, loses its “green” designation through the Maine Department of Education due to heightened risk of COVID-19, sports will not be allowed.
Ten board members voted to accept the MPA recommendations and to resume falls ports. Lusk opposed the motion and Washburn abstained.
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