Christopher Hart came to the University of Maine at Augusta in 2021 with a few goals in mind.

High up the list for the school’s new director of student life and athletics? Adding athletic programs.

Just months after adding men’s and women’s soccer programs, the school announced it will also field baseball and softball teams, too.

“Coming in, that was the view on it, we don’t have a ton of programs, we don’t have a ton of student-athletes. What can we do to grow on this?” Hart said. “Adding sports, adding students, it kind of legitimizes the athletic department a little bit more, as well (as) the experience we can offer to the students.”

Both programs will be members of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II and will compete in the Yankee Small College Conference.

With baseball and softball, UMA features 11 varsity programs, joining cross-country, soccer, track and field and basketball, all of which have men’s and women’s teams. UMA also has a golf team.

Hart said proposals to add athletic programs had to be approved by the UMA and the University of Maine System.

“The idea was always there, when I first applied to the position,” Hart said. “The potential was definitely there. I always saw it. It was definitely part of the long-term goal. I kind of presented that early on in the process, that was a place I really wanted to take things. I would say it was fall of 2021 where we really had some serious conversations about getting things started. It was spring of 2022 where we made our formal pitches and things started to get approved by administration here at UMA, along with the system level. Baseball, softball and soccer were pretty much all proposed at the same time.

“What came out of (the proposal) was, ‘hey, show us you can do it with soccer, and that you can do it well for fall 2023, and then for fall 2024, we’ll let you add baseball and softball,'” Hart continued. “I think we showed we could get the numbers together for soccer last fall. They didn’t have the greatest seasons from a win-loss perspective, but we were able to reestablish the programs, which was great, and that gave us the ability to move forward with our proposals for baseball and softball and get those approved to start this fall.”

Hart said the new programs could potentially bring in more revenue through tuition. He declined to say what the operating costs are for adding baseball and softball.

“We’re forecasting and doing some waterfall projections, showing (UMA and the UMaine System) what we expect to bring in from new sports from a student perspective, a credit hour perspective, from the revenue perspective of what they’re going to generate the institution from a revenue standpoint,” Hart said. “That helps to show that we’re actually, though it’s going to create budgets, we are going to bring in revenue through tuition dollars that can help to offset or kind of prepare a budget for these sports.”

UMA successfully completed both soccer seasons. The women’s program featured 14 players and finished 3-8. The men’s program had 18 players and went 2-7-1.

Though the school continues to add programs, Hart said there has been no discussions about UMA moving to the NCAA Division III level.

Both UMA soccer teams played their games at the Capital Area Soccer Complex last fall, and Hart said both programs will continue to play there in the future. Hart added that he’s been in contact with the Capital Area Recreation Association about using the Piggery Road facilities for UMA’s newest programs, meaning baseball would likely play its home games at Morton Field or McGuire Field, which both offer regulation fields, bullpens and batting cages.

The Moose will play a split-season schedule beginning this fall, with the remainder of the games to be played next spring. UMA has already hired coaches for both programs. Former Spruce Mountain head coach Jacob Bessey will lead the baseball program.

“I never ever dreamed to be starting a college program; it was always my goal to get into college baseball,” said Bessey, a former University of Maine at Farmington standout. “But to start my own college program is super exciting. I’ve really been working hard and having fun with it, recruiting kids from all over the country and trying to get them to come to UMA. It’s been quite a process, but it’s been exciting.”

Heath Cowan, the school’s women’s basketball coach, will lead the softball program.

“From a strategy standpoint, I just like the game,” said Cowan, who in previous years served as head softball coach at Carrabec High School in North Anson and recently has been an assistant softball coach at Madison High. “It’s a fast-paced game. From a UMA standpoint, obviously coaching there for basketball, from a recruiting standpoint, I think we’re doing a good job with that. From the softball side, we’re starting to do a pretty good job with that as well.

With both teams hitting the field in months, Bessey and Cowan said they have been hard on the recruiting trail.

“One of my most common (recruiting) pitches is, ‘We have no upperclassmen,'” Bessey said. “Everyone coming in is brand new. There’s no starters from last year coming back. Everyone is going to get an opportunity to prove themselves until we get that roster set. There’s going to be plenty of playing opportunity.”

“We’ve got some really good players coming here to play softball,” Cowan added. “For us, the key is, from a recruiting standpoint, we need to find a couple of girls that can throw it. We need to have (a pitcher) in the circle who can get us a strikeout when we need one. I think we’ll be able to defend it and I think we’ll be able to hit it, but we have to have to have the right people in there to keep the ball in the yard. If we do that, I think we’ll be pretty successful.”

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

Maine House votes against tax credits for Sea Dogs stadium renovations

Next »

Seattle Storm looks to its future after picking Mackenzie Holmes in WNBA draft