The 2020 high school fall athletic season will undoubtedly be unlike any other. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in cancelling the spring sports season and, beginning Sept. 8, Maine’s fall sports teams will begin a shortened pre-season leading up to regular season games on Sept. 18. It will be the state’s first high school sports season in the coronavirus era. The fall season begins between Phases 3 and 4 of Gov. Janet Mills plans’ to reopen Maine. Phase 3 runs from Aug. 3 to Aug. 23 with teams allowed to begin conditioning drills. Phase 4 runs from Aug. 24 to Sept. 7 with teams continuing with more advanced conditioning drills leading up to a shortened pre-season beginning Sept. 8.

When Maine’s football, soccer and field hockey teams eventually begin competition, they will do so under safety precautions mandated by Maine Principals Association. The changes include a shortened regular season and expanded postseason tournament. Fourteen game schedules for field hockey and soccer are reduced to 10. Football schedules will be reduced from eight games to six. Also, each postseason tournament will be open, allowing all teams to compete for a state championship. There are no changes to golf and cross country season schedules.

Boothbay field hockey coach Donna Jordan believes other safety precautions may be implemented prior to the first game. “Face masks will be optional for participants, but on the sideline coaches will wear masks as well as everybody else on the sidelines. The pregame conference with officials will be limited to one player and one coach per team. And there won’t be any post-game handshakes,” she said.

For the 2020 season, there will be no conference play. The MPA is imposing regional schedules to reduce travel to prevent spreading COVID-19. Athletic directors are working out the reduced schedules and moving from conference play to regional opponents. One proposal has fall sports teams placed in “pods” to fill out a regular season schedule. “There is nothing official, but our schedule may look like Lincoln Academy, Morse, Mount Ararat, Lisbon and some KVAC (Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference) teams. It certainly helps with travel and I’m glad there is going to be a season,” Jordan said.

Regionalization in football is more difficult. The state’s football programs are already divided between eight-man and 11-man football. Prior to the season, one Boothbay football opponent already opted out of the fall season. Camden Hills plays in the large school eight-man football division and will not field a team this season due to the pandemic. So adjusting the state’s eight-man football schedules may be an easier task for athletic directors.

This is Boothbay football coach Ed Crocker’s fourth season. He expects school officials will allow athletes to return to action Aug. 10. He plans on starting with 45-minute conditioning drills three times a week during the lead-up to pre-season. “Social distancing is definitely the most challenging part of coaching under the new guidelines,” he said. “From a coaching standpoint, it means more individual drills instead of the traditional 1V1 (one versus one) drills.”

Crocker expects 28 players to report for football this month. He described it as the “perfect number” for eight-man football. “We’re going to have a lot of competition for linemen positions which is something we’ve worked toward for several seasons. So I’m excited about getting started,” Crocker said. 

Jordan has more of a challenge entering her seventh year as Seahawk coach in filling out a roster. She has nine players returning and needs several more players to field all 11 field positions. Boothbay Region Elementary School’s field hockey had 10 eighth graders last fall. Jordan is hoping a large number of those players will show up this month to play. “We might end up with a few upperclassmen playing so right now we have to wait and see how many actually participate,” she said.