The LTC Class C football ranks will grow to 12 teams next fall with the acceptance of Old Town and Calais-Woodland as new members.

Conference officials met Thursday night in Bangor and voted to accept both teams into the league beginning with the 2008 season, according to Mike Archer, athletic administrator at Orono High School.

The teams come to the Class C level with different objectives, Old Town to preserve its program and Calais-Woodland to compete at the varsity level for the first time.

“We’re excited,” said Calais High School assistant principal Matt Clark, a former head coach in the LTC at John Bapst of Bangor. “We think this will help Old Town and help us.”

Old Town is a traditional Class B program that has struggled in recent years with frequent coaching turnover and decreased player participation. The Coyotes have just a 12-78 record since their most recent Class B playoff appearance in 1997 and have been winless the last two seasons.

After an internal study conducted by an ad hoc committee last fall, the Old Town school board voted unanimously to have the Coyotes compete in Class C beginning next fall, with a commitment of at least three years.

Under Maine Principals’ Association rules, when a team competes at a level below what its enrollment dictates it is ineligible for postseason play, and with 578 students Old Town is a Class B school by enrollment so it will be ineligible for the playoffs while in Class C. Current MPA breakdowns place football teams with 800 or more students in Class A, 506 to 799 in Class B and 0 to 505 in Class C.

Such a move is not unprecedented. Both Mount Desert Island and Rockland dropped from Class B to Class C at times in the past in order to rebuild their programs. Ironically, both schools qualified for postseason play in 2007, with MDI in Class B and Rockland now a Class C school by enrollment.

“Hopefully this will give us the opportunity to get our numbers up to where they were in years past and to replenish a program with a very, very strong tradition,” said Old Town principal Joe Gallant. “We hope this will give us the opportunity to play on a more competitive basis on a week-to-week basis.”

Old Town’s plans reopened a window of opportunity for the cooperative Calais-Woodland program, which originally sought varsity status after the 2006 season after its players had experienced considerable success the three previous years in the Canadian-based Fundy Football League.

But that application, and a subsequent appeal, were denied by the MPA because the Calais-Woodland program had not completed two years of Maine subvarsity competition.

According to the MPA football bulletin, “New varsity teams must maintain/participate in a J.V. program (with a minimum number of six games) for a minimum of two consecutive seasons prior to entering varsity competition, based on the two-year classification cycle. If a league wishes to admit a school earlier due to an odd number of teams, it may apply to the football committee.”

The anticipated move of Old Town to Class C would have left both the Pine Tree Conference Class B and LTC with 11 teams in 2008, so Calais-Woodland – which played a subvarsity schedule last fall – applied to both leagues for early acceptance. It ultimately gained entry to the LTC, where it belonged by enrollment.

“We have to look at this as a positive, that we’re adding football in Eastern Maine,” said Archer. “We’re here for the kids, and we’ve got to do what’s best for kids to provide them opportunities.”

LTC officials did question Calais-Woodland representatives on several issues before accepting the application, particularly in regard to having an adequate playing field and accommodations for opposing teams to film and scout the games, as well as the sustainability of the program.

Clark said Calais-Woodland is working on developing a football facility for the program.

As for player participation, particularly at the youth levels, “they felt their numbers are pretty solid,” Archer said.

“I think the best way to continue to build the program is to have that varsity status,” added Clark.

One complication arising from the changes is that both the PTC B and the LTC will have to develop new conference schedules for the second year of their current two-year scheduling cycles.

Archer said the LTC has established a six-member committee to devise a new schedule for the coming year. Among questions to be answered are whether the league will use a one-division, 12-team format or be divided into two six-team divisions, and whether to hold four- or eight-team playoffs.

A new two-year scheduling cycle for both conferences will begin with the 2009 season.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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