BLUE HILL – Members of the George Stevens Academy boys basketball program are showing the spirit of giving during this holiday season.

The team this week donated $1,000 to Tom Smith, a local businessman in need of a liver transplant.

Members of the GSA varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams annually conduct a variety of fund-raising events to support the basketball program.

One of this year’s events was a free-throw shooting contest, in which players went out into the community to secure pledges based on how many free throws each player made in 100 attempts.

In conjunction with the contest, the teams decided to give 25 percent of the proceeds to a local charity.

The contest netted the basketball teams more than $3,000, and the varsity players, managers and coaches decided to make a donation to Smith’s plight.

Because they had raised additional funds through other efforts such as a bottle drive, the basketball team members and coaches chose to increase their donation to $1,000.

“We just feel really privileged, really privileged to be able to help,” said senior forward Tim Carter, who made 87 of his 100 free throws during the contest. “We’re a private school, and we get a lot of help from the community, and it’s nice to give something back.”

GSA boys varsity coach Dwayne Carter recalled that when GSA won the 2003 Class C state title, Bar Harbor Banking and Trust purchased championship jackets for the team, and Tradewinds Marketplace, a local grocery store, bought the team polo shirts.

“I think everyone felt that this was just a good way to give something back to the community that has supported them,” he said.

The team presented a $1,000 check on Monday night to Jane Smith of Surry, Tom Smith’s mother.

“I felt really good about it,” said junior forward Collin Henry, who with Tim Carter spoke during the brief presentation. “I don’t think she could believe that teenagers would really do something like this.

“It’s good to be able to show that we care about the people in town.”

“You could tell that doing this really meant something to them,” added coach Carter. “The kids really felt like they were doing something good.”

Smith, a GSA alumnus who with his wife Marilyn founded Blue Hill Accounting in 1987, has been in and out of hospitals since being diagnosed with end-stage liver disease last March while at the Lahey Clinic in Boston.

Doctors told him then that he would need a transplant to survive.

The family thought it had adequate health insurance, but while the total cost of a transplant operation and aftercare is about $350,000, the Smiths’ insurance would cover only a fraction of the cost.

Though doctors have declared Smith physically and psychologically eligible for a transplant, financial issues so far have kept him from being put on a list to receive a transplant.

The Smiths recently moved to Florida, coach Carter said, where they believe the chances of becoming eligible for a transplant are greater.

Friends of the family have formed a foundation to raise funds to help defray the costs. In addition, tax-deductible donations may be made in Smith’s name to the National Foundation for Transplants, P.O. Box 1177, Blue Hill, ME 04614.

PTC A schedule changes loom

Some changes are in the offing for the Pine Tree Conference Class A football schedule in 2005.

The league, 14 teams strong in 2004, is expected to have just 11 member schools next fall, according to Lewiston athletic director Paul Amnott, the PTC Class A football chair.

Waterville and Gardiner plan to drop to Class B, while Windham will shift to the Southern Maine Activities Association, or Western Maine Class A.

When Windham joined the Class A football ranks two seasons ago, it was placed in Eastern Maine to give both East and West the same number of teams – 14.

But Amnott said a stipulation of that agreement was that after two years, Windham – already an SMAA member in other sports – would shift to the SMAA in football, which it will do next fall.

Those changes will leave the PTC A with 11 teams, while with the additional move of Gorham from Western B to Western A, the SMAA will have 16 football teams.

Among likely changes to the PTC A schedule next fall – subject to league approval – are the following, according to Amnott:

. Each team will play an eight-game schedule over a nine-week period, compared to an eight-week period in recent years;

. As a result, each team would have a bye week;

. There no longer would be crossover games between the PTC and the SMAA. In recent years, each team has had one such crossover game.

. Because it will take an additional week to complete the regular season, the PTC playoff field would be reduced from eight teams to four teams, similar to the playoff fields in Classes B and C.

Amnott is soliciting suggestions from member athletic directors and coaches about the upcoming PTC Class A schedule.

One question that remains is whether the conference will maintain its two-division format based on geographical considerations, or switch to one 11-team division. In the latter case, Amnott said the schedule still could be developed using geographic and rivalry considerations that are the foundation of the current two-division alignment.

Something that would simplify the process is an additional team, which would allow for two six-team divisions. But Amnott said through his discussions with Maine Principals’ Association officials that it is unlikely a 12th team will be forthcoming for the PTC A, at least through the next two-year cycle.

“My wish for Christmas is a 12th team,” Amnott said, “but it’s probably not going to happen this time around.”

Father coaching with son

Hampden Academy girls basketball coach Ben Greenlaw has some new faces on the bench with him as assistant coaches this year, but one of those new staff members is a very a familiar face for him.

Dick Greenlaw, Ben’s father and the former principal at Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln, has been on the bench this year.

Last spring, Ben Greenlaw said, his father retired from Mattanawcook after about 20 years there and agreed to help with the Broncos. Oh, and Dick Greenlaw’s basketball experience was attractive, too – he coached the Fort Fairfield boys from 1974 to 1979.

“I thought it would be great to involve him,” Ben Greenlaw said. “He’s got great experience working with kids and a lot of knowledge about basketball. He’s been a great addition.”

Ben Greenlaw played for his father as a youngster, but so far the son has been in charge.

“It’s good because he’s got no agendas as far as trying to be the head coach,” he said. “He respects me, I respect him. We don’t always see eye to eye on things, but it’s been great.”