ROCKPORT — It has been a long, winding road, but the Biddeford football program will finally be headed to Class B next season thanks to a vote by the Maine Principals’ Association on Thursday.
The story starts two years ago when the Biddeford School Department decided to petition the MPA to stay in Class A for football despite having the enrollment of a Class B school.
However, just a year after being awarded the chance to stay in Class A, which is the largest division of Maine football, the school’s leadership started working on dropping down to Class B.
It seemed that the move down to Class B would swiftly be approved after the MPA’s football committee gave it the rubber stamp. Unfortunately for the Tigers’ program, the more powerful Interscholastic Management Committee voted it down in November.
Once that vote took place it looked as if the Tigers would be stuck playing up in class for the next two seasons, but the MPA then decided to put a vote on the table at the group’s annual Spring Conference. That vote wasn’t exactly on Biddeford’s quest to drop down to Class B, but it did change the classification cycle from four years to two, which meant Biddeford could switch classes next season.
The vote passed easily on Thursday during the MPA conference at the Samoset Resort and now, more than a year after the fight to switch classes began, the Biddeford Tigers are officially in Class B.
“We are certainly happy with the decision and we are very appreciative of the work that the committee did, the MPA Classification Committee, we think it was the best thing for football and for Biddeford High School and we are happy to be moving forward,” said Biddeford athletic director Dennis Walton.
Walton admits that the decision made two years ago to stay in Class A, which is for schools with enrollment above 845 students, was probably the wrong one for the Biddeford football program.
“We would be the first to tell you that looking back I think there was little bit of a shock value when we were first told that we were classified as ”˜B.’ We weren’t sure that the community was ready for that,” said Walton. “It was a shock to the community and it was on the heels of an 0-8 season, so people viewed it as basically a demotion. It most certainly had nothing to do with that. It’s a very, very simple thing ”“ we have 775 kids. That is clearly classified as Class B, so let’s do what we should be doing like we have done with all the other sports.”
Biddeford football coach Brian Curit had the same mindset, according to Walton.
“All along he kind of had the same sentiment. It’s not about wins and losses, it’s not about being competitive. I mean we were competitive last year in Class A, we had no reason to move. It’s about playing a schedule and playing teams who are under the same circumstances as you are. That’s what it came down to, giving our kids the best opportunity they can ”“ an even playing field if you will,” said Walton.
“I’ve always been an advocate of playing where you fit and I think this is obviously where we fit,” said Curit.
Up until the vote on Thursday, Curit was trying to prepare himself and his team for multiple scenarios.
“We’ve gone back and forth in regards to we really, up until today, didn’t know where we were going to play. With the MPA, you never know how it could shake out. We sort of prepared to play wherever they told us to play,” said Curit.
Walton says he and Curit had a ton of support from the school district’s administration.
“I said all along, this was not a Biddeford athletic department movement, this was a Biddeford school district movement. We certainly had a whole lot of support from our principal, our superintendent, school board members that we spoke to, this was truly a district initiative,” said Walton.
The entire district wanted to make the right decision for future student-athletes.
“We just felt like at 775 kids that this was the right thing to do for the kids, for our kids who participate in football. To make them wait two additional years, in our eyes, would have been two classes of kids who had to pay for a decision that was made by adults, that at the time, probably wasn’t the right decision to make,” said Walton.
Curit has heard some talk of Biddeford dropping down to Class B just to get away from the tougher competition, but he wants everyone to know that isn’t the case.
“I know there has been a lot of banter on social media and a lot of people have said that, ”˜gee, you know what, Biddeford is moving down because they don’t think they can compete.’ I look at that, and obviously you can’t control what people say on those sites, but I think that this (past) year we had a whole boatload of injuries and we got into the second round of the (Class A) playoffs … we expected to be competitive wherever we played,” said Curit.
Curit also knows that the competition in Class B ”“ where Biddeford will now be the fourth-largest school ”“ is going to be tough, week in and week out.
“In Western Class A it’s a donnybrook every week and we are expecting it to be the same way in Class B. We understand that Marshwood and York and Kennebunk … there are very, very good teams at the ”˜B’ level. We understand exactly what we are up against, but in regards to our physical size, I think it’s obviously where we fit,” said Curit.
One negative to the move from Class A to Class B is the fact that Biddeford and longtime rival Thornton Academy will no longer play each other.
“Certainly, it doesn’t appear that they will be on our schedule, no,” said Walton.
There is a chance that the two schools could come up with a way to play The Battle of the Bridge game ”“ even if it’s not in the regular season.
“This is so new that any discussions of scrimmages or exhibitions or even Thanksgiving has been thrown out there, those things haven’t been discussed yet,” said Walton.
Walton knew the loss of the Biddeford-TA rivalry would be a tough pill for some members of the community to swallow, but the school district leaders couldn’t base their decision on one game.
“Right now it doesn’t appear that we will be playing Thornton Academy. That’s a difficult thing and it will be a very difficult thing for community members,” said Walton. “But, I think when we were talking, we couldn’t say well the only reason we are going to stay in Class A, which is not where we belong, is to maintain our rivalry with Thornton Academy. That would have been doing it for the wrong reasons.”
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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