In a shocking move Wednesday, the MPA, along with other state agencies, reversed their decision on the forced stoppage in sports and other school based activities seasons if a county is designated yellow in the Maine DOE’s biweekly classifications. 

In a memo from the organization yesterday, it appears as though the decision of halting or continuing the season in the event of a yellow designation now falls directly upon the administration of the individual schools. “If it is deemed safe to do so by the local administration, teams may begin practicing, following the established sports-specific return to play guidelines.”

Teams may not just immediately begin playing games however, as the memo continued that “Students have been inactive for a considerable amount of time; therefore each school must establish an acclimatization period in which athletes recondition before playing in competitive games.”

That reconditioning stint, in a decision made by the MPA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, does not have a set mandatory period, rather, each school is to develop their own plan. 

This means that teams from Androscoggin, Cumberland, Oxford and York counties can now begin practicing, something they have not been able to do all winter. 

This is a very exciting proposition for many, as voiced by the Dirigo High School Athletic Director, who posted an enthusiastic tweet Wednesday night that read “NO MORE COLOR DESIGNATION FOR ATHLETICS!!”

On the home front, student-athletes are happy that their seasons will continue even if PIHS is forced to shift to the hybrid learning model. “I think that the basketball players will not be as stressed now,” said varsity girls basketball manager Carly Guerrette. “Even if there’s talk in the school that we might go yellow, they know they can still have their season.”