- Dale Duff Reporting ([email protected])
Maine Maritime Academy in Castine is taking a long look at its football program. School president Dr. William Brennan has suspended football indefinitely and will review the overall financial impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the college’s operations.
It leaves the 71-year-old football program in jeopardy.
“The football program is our most expensive non-academic program,” said President Brennan. “As the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are already mounting and with the prospect of a 10% curtailment in state funding, we need to review the program’s overall impact—and the impact of all programs—on our ability to continue to operate the institution.” – MMA Press Release
Two club sports, rugby and wrestling, are also under review.
MMA announced back in July that all fall sports are suspended because of the Covid-19 concerns.
The 2019 football team had a roster of over 60 players. The Mariners play in the NCAA D-III New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).
The program went 0-10 last fall and has really struggled in recent years, winning only nine games in that last eight seasons.
Football has been part of the campus in Castine since 1946.
“This is an administrative decision brought about by the extreme challenges we are facing as an organization,” said President Brennan. – MMA Press Release
NOTE: MMA is one of six Division-III football programs in the state (Husson, Colby, Bates, Bowdoin, UNE). UMaine in Orono is the lone Division-I program.
