Busy teams tip off another season

Ready or not, the Maine high school basketball season is here.

Some were more than ready as basketballs bounced all over high school gyms Monday, marking the official first day of practice and tryouts for Classes B, C, and D.

“After eight months or so of offseason, it always feels good to get going,” said coach Steve Gardner, whose Orono girls are the defending Class B state champions.

“You sort of start anticipating it. It’s always a good feeling to say `Now the planning’s over, let’s get down and do the work.’ You get to see if all that thinking is going to do any good or not.”

Others, like Paul Withee, Steve Bell and Butch Richards, could have used another week or two.

“It’s been a hectic week, and it’s only going to get worse,” said Bell, who’s starting his first year as varsity boys basketball coach at Piscataquis. “I probably haven’t been able to devote as much time as I’d like to basketball.”

There’s a good reason for that. Bell is also an assistant coach for the Foxcroft Academy Ponies football team, which is getting ready to play in Saturday’s Class C state championship game.

Like Withee, the head coach of Foxcroft’s football and boys basketball teams, and Richards, Belfast’s boys basketball coach and assistant coach on the Lions’ state game-bound football team; Bell finds himself caught between a season not yet over and another that has just begun.

Thus, Piscataquis of Guilford’s first boys tryout began Monday at 6 a.m. – a time normally associated with hockey practices – and that was only the first of two sessions. Bell held another tryout at 6 p.m.

The good news is the only double session on the schedule was Monday while the next three days are at 5:30 or 6 p.m. The bad news is Friday’s practice also starts at 6 a.m.

If that wasn’t enough, it’s parent-teacher conference week at PCHS and Bell, who teaches history and government, must also attend a class Wednesday he needs to take for his Master’s degree.

“I call this week hell week. I’ll be shifting gears in my mind all day every day,” he said.

Withee can relate to that. After teaching math for grades 9-12 all day, he’ll have a half hour before football practice starts at 3:15 p.m.

He and his coaches will study film awhile after practice ends at 5 p.m. before he goes home to eat supper and spend some time with his family. It won’t be much time as Withee plans to go to basketball practice around 6 p.m.

Withee will be there for the “integral” parts of basketball practices, but his assistants will run things based on plans he drew up.

“It’s a nice dilemma to have, for sure,” he said. “And I think it will enhance my season – having so many kids who’ve already played on a championship team.”

But don’t take that to mean Withee’s happy with the schedule.

“They can’t let seasons overlap like this,” he added. “I don’t think it’s fair to Class B and C teams because it puts them at a disadvantage at the start of the season. `A’ teams don’t start ’til next week.”

According to Maine Principals’ Association executive director Dick Tyler, the overlap is unavoidable. The overlapping of seasons occurs as a result of the seven-year calendar. Once every seven years, the seasons will overlap.

“Everything runs off President’s Day in February,” explained MPA assistant director Larry LaBrie. “This is the latest the football season goes as far as the calendar goes.”

For instance, the first day of preseason football was Aug. 14 in 1995. This year, it was Aug. 19. It will be Aug. 18 in 1997, Aug. 17 in 1998… and so on until it cycles back to Aug. 14.

None of that matters to Dave Paul, whose Orono boys are defending Eastern Class B champs.

“It was nice to have a couple three months off, but you look at the calendar every once in awhile,” said Paul, “The anticipation of putting a team together, one that you hope will be successful, makes it an exciting time.”