Sports Done Right Pilot Sites Announced
Contact: Kay Hyatt (207) 581-2761
ORONO, Maine –Twelve Maine school districts have been selected as pilot sites to develop and implement local policy and practices reflecting the University of Maine’s Sports Done Right recommendations at their high schools and middle schools.
The 12 sites, comprising 29 separate schools, were selected from a total of 25 applicants, based on geographic distribution; community and school size; expressed commitment and need; and potential for broad community involvement in the initiative. In all, the sites represent 13 high schools, 15 middle schools and one combined middle-high school.
The federally funded UMaine initiative, begun in October 2003, led to the creation and publication of Sports Done Right: A Call to Action on Behalf of Maine’s Student-Athletes. Crafted by a statewide Select Panel, the report defines healthy interscholastic sports, promotes competition without conflict, and makes recommendations for shaping the best possible learning environment for student-athletes. The document is unprecedented in its reliance on the voices of student-athletes to examine problems and solutions.
Following the report’s Jan. 6, 2005 rollout, Maine school systems, through their superintendents, were invited to apply as pilot sites. An ad hoc committee, established by the Maine Center for Sport and Coaching (MCSC) at the University of Maine, reviewed and narrowed the applications, then offered the opportunity to be a pilot site to 12 school districts.
“We are delighted to see that the Sports Done Right report represents what these schools and communities consider to be a good direction, and we are excited by their readiness to start now,” said Robert Cobb, Dean of the UMaine College of Education and Human Development and Co-director of the initiative. “We are also aware of the tremendous pressures schools are under to implement state and federal mandates and assess student progress, in addition to the present fiscal constraints. Faced with such daily realities, we know that responding schools thoroughly considered the implications of taking on more work, and we applaud their proactive commitment to building better athletic experiences,” he said.
A commitment to collaboration is evident among pilot school districts. For example, the Winthrop Interscholastic Athletic Programs and the Winthrop Recreation Department applied as a single site, and Lewiston and Auburn schools agreed to share status as one pilot site.
The official Sports Done Right pilot sites are: