With approval from the SAD 1 School Board, a group of Aroostook County schools will form a cooperative hockey team for the 2024-25 school year.
Athletes from Caribou, Central Aroostook, Fort Kent and Wisdom high schools will join the Presque Isle Wildcat team, SAD 1 Athletic Director Mark White said at the May 14 board meeting. .
The Maine Principals Association, seeing the decline in student numbers, created a collaborative team to ensure as many athletes as possible could participate. About eight years ago, the Carlisle Swim Team was one of the first swim teams in the county and consisted of members from Caribou High School, Presque Isle High School, and Limestone's Maine School of Science and Mathematics.
After maintaining a strong roster for 30 years, SAD 1 faces an expected decline in future hockey players. Hockey will be able to continue if other students are allowed in, White said.
“This co-op is not a fast track to regional or state championships,” he said. “This is a path to preserving what we have and preserving what this community has invested in hockey.”
Cooperative hockey teams are common in Maine high schools, White said. Of the 31 high school boys hockey teams in the state, 18 are co-op teams.
The Wildcats' Class B North Division has 10 teams, seven of which are cooperative. Although the team has grown over his 30-plus years, its numbers are on the decline.
White said the team works closely with Presque Isle Youth Hockey, a community organization that serves as a feeder program to the Wildcats. Approximately 40% of these players are from schools outside SAD 1, such as Castle Hill, Chapman, Mapleton, Presque Isle, and Westfield.
Youth hockey leaders predicted that only 16 players a year would enter Wildcat hockey over the next five years. White says that's not possible.
“We don't want to start the season with 16 players, because whether it's due to injuries or discipline or other issues, 16 players in November could turn into 12 or 13 players in March,” he said. said. “Sixteen is not a comfortable number for me.”
White contacted school administrators in Caribou, Mars Hill, Fort Kent and St. Agatha and met with parents. He said four students, one from each school, wanted to join the co-op team.
Athletes must meet the school's academic and eligibility guidelines and must find transportation to and from Presque Isle. The expected cost is $2,500 per athlete, but details have not yet been determined.
White said the team will remain the Presque Isle Wildcats, wear Wildcat uniforms and remain in Class B North. Per MPA rules, students from other schools may be required to wear hat decals or patches that identify them as a cooperative team.
White and SAD 1 Superintendent Ben Greenlaw said they agreed that if at some point about 95 percent of the team were once again from SAD 1, the cooperative team would end. While players from other schools would finish their high school hockey careers, the program did not accept new members from outside the district.
The school board unanimously approved the start of a co-op hockey team this fall.
