RSU 40 Board Approves MVHS Football Club

Updated Jan. 29 at 2:00 p.m.

The RSU 40 Board of Directors voted nearly unanimously at their Jan. 23 meeting to approve the Medomak Youth Football Program as a club team at Medomak Valley High School.

The program’s president, Naomi Miller, went before the board to ask for club status as a step toward eventually becoming a varsity team at the school.

Miller and her husband, Fritz, launched the program in Dec. 2010 and, with the help of the program’s board, the community, and local businesses, built Medomak Youth Football into a 130-participant program from grades K to 12.

Bringing in the 9 to 12 portion of the program under the high school as a club team will give facilitators more access to student grades and conduct – something already enforced by the program – and will give the participants recognition in sports awards for the school, Miller said.

The club, which has been funded through donations and mandatory fundraising by participants, would not be asking for any funding from the district, just recognition, she said.

“I support you recognizing them as a club sport, as long as it doesn’t affect your budget,” interim Superintendent Michael Cormier said to the board. “It adds a certain element to your school system; it’s attractive to some folks.”

The club would have to comply with all of the school’s policies, and would be covered under the district’s liability insurance policy, Cormier said.

Matt Lash, the athletic director for Medomak Valley High School and Medomak Middle School, said some details still need to be ironed out, but offering football as a club sport will be exciting for the students and will continue to generate school spirit.

“I support it fully,” Lash said.

MVHS Principal Harold Wilson echoed Lash’s support: “I am 100 percent behind having a club sport of football at the high school,” he said.

The board gave near-unanimous approval to accepting the program as a club sport, with Chair Danny Jackson the only member voting against it.

“I felt the district didn’t need to add another non-academic program that could potentially cost the district money,” Jackson wrote in a Jan. 28 email about his no vote.

Grades 9 to 12 were added in 2012, and the roughly 30 participants that year grew to an average in the 40s for the 2013 season, Miller said.

“That was pretty exciting, so we have certainly shown that there’s interest,” she said.

Though they have not played against any varsity teams, Miller said the high school-level team has played area junior varsity teams and played other club teams in the Greater New England Youth Football League, encompassing teams from the Lincoln County area up as far as Madawaska.

Locally, the team has a home field behind Union Elementary School that is just under regulation size, and has no uprights.

“We don’t really have a field that is appropriate for varsity level play yet,” Miller said.

With the new status as a club team and eyes on becoming varsity level, Miller said she hopes a relationship between the school and the football program can be fostered and field space can be secured in the future.

The team already practices on the front lawn between the high school and middle school, and plays a homecoming game on the baseball outfield each fall.

“We couldn’t have enjoyed any of those things without the support of the athletic director,” Miller said.

Without clear details on exactly what club status will bring to the team or even who it will play against, Miller said Lash will need to be involved in a lot of decisions going forward and anticipates a meeting between Lash and program officials within the next few weeks.

Knowing that the Maine Principal’s Association will require a minimum of two years experience as a club before the team could become varsity level, the board’s approval as a club is just a step in the program’s goal of becoming a varsity team within the next three to five years, Miller said.

“This is the natural progression to eventually becoming a varsity sport; this was the next step on that checklist, so to speak,” she said.

The two year requirement is a safety issue, Miller said, so kids who have never played football or even had it available in their community are not matched up with experienced players.

“We want our kids to be prepared and ready, and to show we’re not just a mom and pop program, we’re not a backyard football program – we’re well grounded and here to stay,” she said.

The community has put its money where its mouth is to support Miller’s assertion, too – through donations and mandatory fundraising by the players, the Medomak Youth Football Program has about $50,000 worth of equipment for the players to use.

“The equipment is all brand-new, including the practice gear and everything,” Miller said.

According to Miller, it costs about $400 to fully-equip a high school-level player, and $300 for younger players.

“I’d love to offer this for everyone for nothing, but where we equip the kids from head to toe – just painting the fields costs us money each year,” she said.

Donations have financed a good portion of the program, Miller said: total donations from businesses in 2011 were around $7500, and similarly sized but declining donations from businesses followed in 2012 and 2013.

“It hasn’t been uncommon for both individuals and businesses to donate $1000,” she said.

A portion of the donations from businesses helped finance the purchase of a concessions trailer for the program as well, she said.

Miller said when she and Fritz first started the program, they knew it would require more than just the two of them hitting the pavement, and luckily parents also come out to support the program, no matter the time of year.

“It’s been a tremendous amount of work, but without the community support from businesses and individuals, it just wouldn’t be possible,” Miller said.