Presque Isle High School athletic director Mark White said Aroostook County is primed and ready to host the state Class C and D boys and girls soccer championships on Saturday for the first time since the games were moved to neutral sites several years ago.
The four games will be played at the Dr. Gehrig T. Johnson Athletic Complex at the Presque Isle Middle School.
“We’re ready to go. We’re just waiting to see who’s coming,” said White. “I have a staff of about 25 who are going to work the games. They’re coaches and a few area athletic directors. We’ve got people who have experience in high school athletics.
“This is a big deal, and we want to have people who have been in those situations before,” added White.
One of those coaches will be Presque Isle High School girls soccer coach Ralph Michaud.
“The biggest thing we’re looking at is the weather, and it looks like it’s going to be fine,” he said.
According to www.weather.com, Saturday’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies but no precipitation, a high of 46 degrees and a 20 mph wind.
Michaud considers the eight-year old facility with a $650,000 FieldTurf surface to be among the best in the state.
“It looks like grass, and it’s a perfect-sized field. I think it’s 110 [yards] by 66 yards,” said Michaud. “And one of the nice things is it only has soccer lines.”
Michaud said sometimes multi-sport fields can be confusing because there are lines for other sports including football, lacrosse and field hockey.
He said the teams will find that their FieldTurf isn’t as fast as the surface at Hampden Academy.
“The field has been groomed and disinfected,” said White.
White said extra bleachers have been brought in so the facility will be able to seat 800 to 1,000 spectators.
Michaud pointed out that the bleachers have plexiglass on the back to help shield spectators from the wind.
“We also have heated locker rooms with white boards (for coaches to diagram a formation or plot a strategy),” said Michaud. “And there are World Cup plexiglass dugouts for the teams.”
“It is exciting to have people visiting us for a change,” said White. “We are very proud of our facility and we’re looking forward to showing it off for people who will be coming up.”
Dick Durost, executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association, credited MPA assistant executive director Mike Burnham and the MPA’s soccer committee for making the decision five years ago to develop a five-year rotation for state championship soccer sites that included Aroostook County. It is a decision he firmly agrees with.
“Aroostook County teams had done all of the traveling,” said Durost.
He pointed out that in 2010, the Caribou High School girls team not only had to travel 297 miles to Falmouth to play in the state Class B championship game, they also wound up playing Falmouth on its home field because that was the pre-determined site.
That contributed to the decision to rotate the sites.
Durost said there was “no doubt in my mind” that Presque Isle will embrace the opportunity to showcase The County.
“It’s going to be a great day on Saturday,” said Durost, who will be in attendance.
Aroostook County teams in Classes C and D have certainly earned the right to play near home.
Between 2007 and 2013, six of the seven Eastern (now the North division) champions in Class C boys soccer have hailed from Aroostook County. The last nine Eastern titlists in girls Class D have been from Aroostook County, including this year’s.
Prior to this season, Fort Kent had won three of the previous five Class C east titles, and in Class D boys, Aroostook County teams won six of eight regional crowns between 2001 and 2008.