Members of the Pine Tree Conference are close to voting on a plan that will divide the conference into two seven-team divisions for play in Class A football beginning this year. The teams will play an eight-game schedule that includes a crossover game with teams from the Southern Maine Activities Association.

A second plan calls for the formation of a PTC B league made up of teams of the old LTC B league and the addition of three Campbell Conference teams.

The driving force behind the conference’s “A” teams forming two divisions was the agreement by Windham to join the conference and a strong desire not to include a bye date in each team’s schedule, according to Steve Ouellette, the athletic director at Lawrence High School in Fairfield and the PTC chairman.

The plan is to work out a two-year schedule, then evaluate how the changes worked.

The PTC A North Division will be made up of Bangor, Messalonskee of Oakland, Waterville, Lawrence, Mt. Blue of Farmington, Skowhegan, and Cony of Augusta.

Gardiner, Brunswick, Mount Ararat of Topsham, Lewiston, Edward Little of Auburn, Oxford Hills of South Paris, and Windham will make up the South Division.

Windham, along with Scarborough and Kennebunk, is moving up to Class A in football for the 2003 season. All three schools applied for entry into the SMAA.

Ouellette said he wrote a letter on behalf of the PTC to Windham AD Steve Merrill and SMAA chairman Dick Agreste, inviting Windham to join the PTC.

“At the end of January [Agreste] contacted me and said that Windham had agreed and applied to the [Maine Principals’ Association] to join the PTC,” Ouellette said.

There was one condition to Windham’s agreement and that was that PTC teams play a crossover game with the SMAA.

Ouellette said the plan calls for teams from the PTC’s North Division to play Portland-area teams while South Division schools will play the most southerly SMAA teams such as Marshwood of Eliot and Noble of South Berwick.

The teams would also play a crossover division game within the PTC.

“The best thing we have about this is that nobody in Class A will have a bye,” Ouellette said.

Ouellette said that eight teams will make the playoffs and that he anticipates the MPA will stipulate that Crabtree Points be used to determine playoff positions.

That would mean the top eight teams in the conference and not necessarily the top four teams from each division will qualify for the playoffs.

“We are in the process of putting a schedule together; after that, ADs will vote,” Ouellette said.

Meanwhile, the Class B schools of the LTC – Old Town, Mount Desert Island, Belfast, Hampden Academy, and Winslow – are joining with Morse of Bath, Leavitt of Turner, and Oak Hill of Sabattus to form the PTC B league.

Belfast coach Butch Arthers said that similar to the PTC A, the two-year plan calls for the teams to play an eight-game schedule against Class B teams. The LTC schools have used LTC Class C teams to fill out their schedule in the past. After two years, the program will be reevaluated.

“We’ll play seven of the nine teams in the conference and we’ll have one crossover game with Campbell Conference teams,” Arthers said.

The PTC B athletic directors and coaches are scheduled to meet in Augusta on Thursday to discuss the proposal.

Bird grounded

The Presque Isle boys basketball team is looking at the possibility of having to play its final two regular-season games and playoffs without standout senior Fred Bird.

Presque Isle coach Tim Prescott said that Bird was diagnosed on Feb. 5 as having mononucleosis.

“He felt poorly with a sore throat and went to the doctor,” Prescott said. “I’m pretty sure he’s had it for a while because he always has so much energy. But he’s appeared a little worn down for the last week to two weeks.”

Bird missed the Wildcats’ two previous games, a split with John Bapst of Bangor. Presque is 9-7, with two regular-season games remaining. Prescott is unsure when Bird could return to the lineup.

“From what I know of it, it affects people differently. The fear is that the spleen is enlarged, and if it receives a direct blow, it’s potentially dangerous. That’s the concern,” Prescott said.

The 6-foot-1 Bird averages approximately 20 points and eight rebounds per game for the Wildcats and plays either power forward or shooting guard.

“Without a doubt, I think he’s one of the top seniors in Eastern Maine,” Prescott said.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-30-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net