A salute to Maine’s Big East: it means more than basketball

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It was born of necessity a decade ago.

Now, like ESPN, automatic teller machines, and hot wings, it’s hard to remember what life was like before The Big East.

No, not that Big East, the one the colleges inhabit. This is the Eastern Maine version, the schoolboy and schoolgirl basketball league made up of Bangor, Brewer, Caribou, Presque Isle, Nokomis of Newport, Hampden Academy, and Old Town high schools.

Maine’s Big East will be on prominent display Saturday when the Caribou girls and boys travel to Old Town for games at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively. Meanwhile, the Presque Isle girls and boys will journey to Brewer for games at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

If at first the Big East sounded like a not-too-original, slightly pretentious name that was simply stuck on a group of high schools who happened to play each other, be advised it has evolved into much more.

“I think it is one of the best things we ever did in Eastern Maine Class A basketball,” assessed Brewer High assistant principal Paul Soucy, president of the Big East and one of the league’s early driving forces.

“It’s done a lot of good for all our programs. It’s improved sportsmanship and esprit de corps in all our group,” echoed Dwight Hunter, athletic director at Caribou High.

“It’s elevated the level of play,” said Bangor High girls coach Tom Tennett, addressing the impact the Big East has had on high school basketball itself.

How, exactly, has the Big East done all this?

“By bringing people together who are interested in making basketball better for the kids,” answered Soucy. “That’s the key to being a strong conference.”

If anyone doubts the impact a bunch of schools banding together can have, consider the fact that this year the Big East will:

-Hold its annual, corporately-sponsored postseason awards banquet on the Saturday of the EM Class A final. There, between 50 and 75 student-athletes will receive individual awards and recognition based on their achievements on and off the court.

-Produce four statistical reports that will be distributed to media outlets and area colleges. The Big East is actively committed to publicizing the achievements of its players.

-Sponsor a junior varsity championship tournament at Caribou High.

-Lobby the Maine Principals Association to push the first countable practice date back to the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving instead of the current Monday prior to the holiday.

-Petition basketball officials to drop their rating system of schools and coaches. This would relieve officials of the burden of having to pay attention to areas beyond the games themselves, theoretically focusing all attention on the game itself.

-Stress good sportsmanship. The league actively monitors and polices its membership on this point. A pledge of sportsmanship is read over the public address system before each game. The five-member executive committee has jurisdiction to take disciplinary actions.

In addition, the Big East has already held a well-attended preseason tipoff tournament.

The league’s original purpose, however, and one that is still paramount, is more basic than any of the above.

The Big East is about ensuring the survival of interscholastic basketball in the face of a threatening economy and a changing state.

“The original reason we formed was to help Presque Isle and Caribou get a decent schedule,” said Soucy.

Hunter places the year of the league’s formation as 1984, even though the first official mention of the Big East – originally called the Eastern Eight – in the media didn’t come until December 1987.

In the early 1980s, Caribou and Presque Isle were being dropped from the schedules of Class B and C programs in Aroostook County as the disparity in enrollments sharpened. This forced the northern Class A programs to appeal to other large schools in Eastern Maine to play them home and away.

“We couldn’t get 18 games,” recalled Hunter. “We petitioned some of the teams to play us down there in Eastern Maine. One of the guys I credit with giving the push with some authority is (former Brewer High principal) Mickey Doble.”

Thanks to such visionaries and basketball lovers as Doble, former Brewer AD Bill Fletcher, Old Town AD Bob Lahey, Don Dow of Stearns in Millinocket, Soucy, Hunter, Frank Keenan of Presque Isle, Tennett, and others, eight original members agreed to play each other, come hell or slashed budgets.

Each Big East program was instantly guaranteed 14 Class A games. Stearns of Millinocket recently dropped out after declining enrollment forced it to drop to Class B.

With the league came strength and, eventually, solidarity in the face of hard times.

“I know at one time one or two schools were thinking about dropping Caribou and Presque Isle because of budgetary considerations,” recounted Tennett. “I know our other ADs said, `if we’re a league, we’re a league. If you drop them, we may have to drop you.’ ”

There is, of course, a price to belong to the Big East besides travel.

Each school must pay $450 in annual dues. Soucy and league statistician Mike Clark each receive an $800 stipend to perform their administrative duties. The rest goes toward spring and fall conferences for coaches and athletic directors, meetings and the postseason awards banquet.

“I think the price is well worth the benefits,” said Soucy.

Those benefits extend beyond the obvious scheduling advantage, according to Hunter.

“One of the big advantages is, as long as we have the Heal Point system, we’ll keep a lot of the points in our league,” said Hunter, noting most years the Big East has sent at least four or five teams to the eight-team EM Class A tournament.

Hunter also said the Big East had made it easier for him to schedule other sports against schools located farther south and east.

Tennett points to the cultural benefit for players from different parts of the state traveling to each other’s home towns.

“It’s been a great way for the kids to get to know each other away from the court. We have healthier rivalries now because of the relationship of the kids,” Tennett said.

Still, there have to be drawbacks to the league, right?

“The only drawback, and I wouldn’t call it a drawback, is you play a tough game every night,” Tennett said.

All agreed the future of the Big East appears solid. The loss of Stearns has resulted in more games against Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference teams, which could weaken the Big East’s tournament grip from the loss of Heal Points. Soucy said John Bapst has expressed preliminary interest about joining in the future.

No other member appears in imminent danger of an enrollment drop to Class B status.

“I would think we’re one of the premier athletic conferences in the state,” summed up Soucy.

Big East Lineup

Bangor

Brewer

Caribou

Hampden

Nokomis

Old Town

Presque Isle