Schools eager to begin sports initiative

loading...

Several Eastern Maine high school administrators are excited for their schools to start work as pilot sites for the University of Maine’s “Sports Done Right” initiative.

The 12 pilot sites, which were announced Friday, include the Brewer School Department; SAD 29, which is comprised of students from Houlton and its surrounding towns; SAD 5, which is made up of Rockland and other surrounding towns; and SAD 32, which draws from Ashland and its neighboring towns.

The federally funded initiative, which was presented to the public Jan. 6 as a report called “Sports Done Right: A Call to Action on Behalf of Maine’s Student-Athletes,” seeks to define healthy interscholastic athletic programs and makes recommendations for implementing those definitions.

Brewer athletic director Dennis Kiah, who attended the rollout of the report at the Augusta Civic Center, said officials in the school department have been interested in participating since they read “Sports Done Right.”

“We think there are going to be some things that are going to improve our program,” he said. “I think that we’re doing a lot of what’s in the study but we’re always looking to improve.”

Kiah said Brewer officials plan to attend a meeting later this month at the University of Maine at which time the pilot sites will be given some training and instruction about how to take the report to the community.

Pilot schools gain a variety of benefits, including affiliation with UMaine, technical assistance and development opportunities, and a grant to defray the cost of public meetings, travel and materials.

One benefit Kiah said should be helpful is the waiver of fees for UMaine’s online coaching course.

“I took it last fall because I figured if my coaches had to do it then I’d do it,” he said. “It was very, very good. And there are a lot of links you can go to that are very helpful.

Houlton High principal Marty Bouchard did not attend the Jan. 6 rollout because of other school commitments. He has read “Sports Done Right” and said Houlton is already doing a lot of the things in the report, but there’s always room for improvement.

One of the benefits for the Houlton area, Bouchard said, will likely come when the school and community start to work together. That’s one of the recommendations in “Sports Done Right.”

“This motivates us to work more closely with the [recreation] department and community as a whole,” Bouchard said. “It will allow us to collaborate and come up with one coaching ideal or goal.”

The hope of the panel that put together the report is that local school boards will use the report’s recommendations as policy.

Other pilot sites include Portland, Augusta and the Lewiston-Auburn area. There were 25 applicants.

Quinn enters elite group

Bangor senior John Quinn’s times at last month’s Class A state boys swimming and diving championships puts him into a select group of Ram swimmers, Bangor coach Phil Emery said.

Quinn, a senior sprint specialist, posted a time of 22.80 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle and a 49.50 in the 100 free to put him in the group of former Bangor swimmers who have gone under 23 seconds in the 50 and 50 seconds in the 100.

Both times were career-bests for Quinn, who was second in the 50 free and third in the 100.

Quinn is also one of three members of this year’s senior class to have attended every practice in the past four years. That group also includes Mike Rubin and Graham Fitch.

Rubin, a distance specialist, had career-bests in the 200 and 500 free events at states. He was third in the 200 and second in the 500.

“They were here every day and they have truly paid the price,” Emery said.

Gymnast Guerin moves to diving

If circumstances had been different, Rosie Guerin wouldn’t have been at the recent Class A girls state swimming and diving championships. But a foot injury, plus a decision by the Maine Principals’ Association to discontinue support of high school gymnastics, meant the former high school all-around gymnastics champ turned to diving.

In just her first year with her new sport, the Kennebunk junior finished fourth out of the top 12 divers.

Guerin attended Biddeford High as a freshman, winning the state all-around competition and leading the Tigers to the 2003 state title. But her foot injury kept her from competing as a sophomore and last April the MPA voted to end its support of gymnastics because there were just six high school teams left in the state.

Guerin was still competing at the club level, but high school competition was out. So she started to think about what she could do that would allow her to use her gymnastic ability and stay in shape.

Because of her background, the transition to diving was a relatively easy one.

“I don’t think I would have been half as prepared for diving if I hadn’t done gymnastics,” she said. “There’s so much technique that I’ve been able to carry over to diving, which is great.”

Guerin said she was hoping to finish as high as she did at in the state diving competition. She scored a 270 – 26 points away from the third-place finisher, but surely encouraging for someone in their first year of a new sport.

“I’m really looking forward to next year,” she said. “I’m going to continue on so I can be even more prepared for next season.”

MBR hosting tournament

Maine Basketball Report (MBR.org) is hosting the 1st USSSA Basketball Club basketball championships in the Portland area the weekend of April 16-17.

Tournaments will be held for boys and girls in every age and grade group from 10U (fourth grade) through 17U (11th grade). Age groups are the same as AAU and YBOA.

Teams will qualify to play at the USSSA National Championships in July.

The Tournament Fee is $325 per team, which includes a minimum of three games, USSSA team and player registration, and insurance for the event.

For more information go to www.neusssa.org or call tournament director Ron Barris at 892-8092 or e-mail him at Mainebombers@aol.com.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.