MPA survey to precede vote on centralized state soccer sites

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There were no decisions made – there was not even a straw vote taken – but the Maine Principals’ Association soccer committee spent part of its Monday morning meeting talking about the concept of centralized sites for state championships.

MPA assistant executive director Larry LaBrie, who is the staff member assigned to the soccer committee, said there was much talk of the idea, which was brought to the committee by Maine Soccer Coaches president Mike Jeffrey. He serves as the coaches’ liaison to the MPA.

“The conversation was very positive,” LaBrie said. “The committee liked the idea.”

The MPA committee, however, wasn’t prepared to make any changes yet because it wants to hear from other soccer coaches and administrators around the state, LaBrie added.

Therefore, the next step will be to survey athletic directors and principals to find out where their soccer coaches stand on the idea. The surveys will be administered by the MPA.

The MPA soccer committee will meet again in August and look at survey responses and other opinions. Any votes or decisions made at that point could be put into effect for the 2008 season, LaBrie said. A vote of the full membership would not be needed in this case.

Currently, the MPA assigns state championship sites on a kind of halfway system. That is, once the matchups for the games are set, the MPA tries to find locations that fall roughly halfway between the Eastern Maine and Western Maine representatives.

Other stipulations for the sites include sufficient parking, a fenced-in facility for crowd control and a field that is in good shape after more than two months of regular-season and postseason play.

The Maine Soccer Coaches, who met Dec. 2 in Bangor, discussed a plan that would have one or two sites where four games could be played in one day.

The sites might rotate every year. For example, one year the state games in Classes A and B might be held at one of the artificial turf fields in the Portland area with the C and D games on the turf field in Hampden. The next year, the schedule might flip, sending the As and Bs to Hampden and the Cs and Ds to Portland.

One of the reasons Maine Soccer Coaches wants a one- or two-site system is to showcase soccer, allowing fans to see more games in one day. In that case, the sites would likely have to have a field with artificial turf because of the wear and tear over a four-game day.

Travel considerations, however, are a concern for the MPA committee, LaBrie said. The success of Aroostook County teams such as Madawaska, Van Buren and Ashland, which routinely send teams to state championships, has meant those teams routinely travel more than three hours to get to sites such as Hampden.

“It’s not as easy as it seems it would be,” LaBrie said. “Can you imagine sending Madawaska to Portland for a state game, at a time when the state is cutting subsidies for transportation and the economy isn’t in great shape? That’s a real concern for us.”

The committee discussed making the sites permanent, so for example the Class A and B states would be at a location in the Portland area, and the C and D games would be closer to the northern part of the state, and in that scenario the A-B and C-D placement would not rotate.

Other team sports with several state games in one location include football, field hockey, basketball, baseball and softball.

Hancock wins field hockey award

Skowhegan senior Melissa Hancock was named Miss Maine Field Hockey at the Maine Field Hockey Association awards banquet Sunday in Augusta.

Hancock, the sweeper for the Indians who will play at Div. I Sacred Heart on a partial scholarship next fall, is a four-year varsity team member. She helped Skowhegan win the 2007 Class A state title, which was the program’s seventh straight.

She had 12 defensive saves in her four seasons on the Skowhegan team.

Hancock has played on the elite Katahdin and Maine Event teams, participated in the National Festival and was named a regional All-American.

Miss Maine Field Hockey is awarded to the top senior player in the state. The other 2007 finalists were Messalonskee of Oakland’s Bethany Ridley, Cony of Augusta’s Natalie Fecteau and Greely of Cumberland Center’s Mackenzie Ross.

Lee bench solid in win

As expected, the five senior starters for the Lee Academy girls basketball team looked good as the defending Class D state champion Pandas debuted in Eastern Maine Class C with a 62-32 season-opening win over 2007 EM Class C runner-up Calais.

What pleased coach Ron Weatherbee, however, were the contributions he got from his bench. Every substitute but one scored to combine for 14 points and eight rebounds. Others provided tough defense and key minutes down the stretch.

Freshman Kellsey Grass went 2-for-3 from the floor for her first varsity points. Senior Laci McLaughlin had one of her best games as she’s finally healthy after struggling with a knee injury.

“The bench played very well,” Weatherbee said. “That’s as well as Laci’s played in a long time. She gave us some very good minutes.”

Junior Heidi Sappier, a transfer from Woodland who had an immediate impact on the Lee soccer team, also proved to be a good defender, especially against some of the taller Calais players.

At one point late in the fourth quarter, the 5-foot-8 forward was guarding a Calais player when a referee blew his whistle. Sappier looked up in surprise, thinking she had been called for a foul. In fact, the ref indicated it was a 5-second call on the Blue Devil player.

That drew plenty of good-natured laughs from the Lee sidelines.

“She’s a work in progress and I think she’s going to help us out down the road,” Weatherbee said of Sappier. “Right now we’ve got to work her into situations where she can be successful and go from there.”

The Pandas had the game in hand relatively early, which gave Weatherbee a chance to work on some different rotations and situations.

“I wanted to see some of those people … who might have to play with part of that top group, to give them a chance to play together knowing that when somebody gets into foul trouble in game three or game four, it isn’t a case of well, we’ve never played with this person in the lineup before,” he said.

Jessica Bloch may be reached at jbloch@bangordailynews.net or 990-8193.