Some County Teams Would Play Basketball Tourney Games In Augusta Under Mpa Proposal

As Maine’s population and school enrollments continue to decline, might the likes of Presque Isle, Caribou, Mount Desert Island, Old Town and Hermon have to bypass the Cross Insurance Center to play their tournament basketball in Augusta in the near future? It’s one option on the table this winter as the Maine Principals’ Association classification committee spends extra time studying ways to maintain competitive balance in basketball where shrinking enrollments often push more programs to the small-school classes. The committee also has been dealing with the expected growth of eight-player football next fall from 10 to at least 16 schools. A proposal originally floated in 2019 would move more than 30 basketball programs to different classes.