UMaine cheering deserves more support

My name is Deborah Smith and I am a parent of two University of Maine at Orono athletes. Let me tell you a little about the team that both students are on.

Two-thirds of the students on the team were recognized last year for academic accomplishments during the athletic academic recognition ceremony. The team (not the families) has raised over $15,000 each year to fund their participation in the national championship. The team receives no allowance from the university for meals, gas or travel when they participate in national competitions or travel to local Maine games (games played off the Orono campus).

Also, the team is required to maintain the same minimum 2.0 grade point average as their fellow athletes and they practice three to four days a week, have one to two games per week. They volunteer their services over the summer season to run camps for local youths. They have not been highlighted in the news for inappropriate behavior.

And, this year the team lost their funding, as sparse as it was.

The team I am referring to is the true definition of a team sport, if an athlete isn’t able to “do their stuff” there isn’t someone to “pull from the bench” – it is a do or don’t situation for the team and is an extremely physical sport which has ranked third in high school injuries, next to football and hockey.

For those of you who have athletes involved in this sport you have probably already guessed: It is the University of Maine cheering team. As a former softball coach and a parent of two athletes who also played soccer and softball, anyone who has had an involvement with them can tell you that these athletes work very hard.

I am writing this letter to express my outrage and to let other parents of athletes know the injustice being done at the University of Maine in Orono. So why am I mad?

When my oldest daughter started a the University of Maine (four years ago), I was surprised by the lack of support the team received and this past year was outraged when they eliminated the entire budget, a budget that when the coach was paid, only left $2,000 for the team. Her fee was less than most Eastern Maine high school cheering coaches are paid.

I am required as a parent to pay all the same fees as part of their tuition as any other parent of student athletes, however I must pay for their uniform requirements; their travel, meals and gas to sporting events held within the state of Maine; and assist them with fund raising.

This past spring, they brought the coach in and told her that due to budget restraints at the University of Maine the budget for the cheering program was being eliminated, the team could continue but there would not be a coach and that two individuals in the public relations department would oversee the program – neither has had any experience with cheering.

These students have received no contact at all from the public relations department, yet they have continued to move forward thanks to the wonderful support of their former coach, Melinda Kerry. Although the University of Maine isn’t recognizing her, she has continued to volunteer with the kids. Her concern for their safety and commitment to the program make her an example of what a coach is or should be.

It is now less than three weeks to the start of classes, yet these athletes haven’t heard if there will be a preseason. They don’t know if they can continue to work right up to the start of school or if they should plan to move on campus early. Is this the type of support these athletes are going to receive from the university?

Are they just showpieces to be placed on the field/court or is the university going to respect them for the true athletes that they are? As a parent, fan, and University of Maine supporter I have a right to know as do other parents, fans, and UMaine supporters.

With the money that the University of Maine has spent in legal fees alone they could pay for the coach and the entire team for the next five years. The University of Maine knows the dedication of the coach and has found a way to eliminate the budget, but keep the program alive without a coach to have any voice.

Isn’t it a shame that the University of Maine which has had some bad PR in the past few years with their student athletes can’t support a program whose athletes are fostering a positive image for the youths of Maine?

Deborah Smith

Brewer

Moosehead’s bass are from Prong Pond

I am sick and tired of hearing about the illegal introduction of bass in Moosehead Lake. The biologists blame the unknown for a lot of problems, news columnists talk about it. A lot of us have caught thousands of trout since we were 12 years old unlike John Holyoke’s quip, and can see other reasons why there may be problems.

In Beaver Cove Township about 10 miles above Greenville, lies Prong Pond less than one mile form Moosehead Lake. Joining the lake with the pond is a large free-flowing stream, with enough water flowing to allow free passage of any kind of fish. For as long as I remember and that’s quite a while, there have been bass white and yellow perch in Prong Pond.

There has never been an attempt to screen or dam this stream to keep these undesirable fish from swimming down the stream to Moosehead. The biologists in the Moosehead region know this but choose to ignore it. Maybe someone did stock bass in Moosehead, but lets tell it like this, because of the Prong Pond situation, bass would be in the big lake anyway.

Ron Nickerson

Monson

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