Winslow High will host the annual Central Maine Play Day field hockey event on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.
The event, which started in 2012, has become an unofficial beginning of the high school field hockey season. Several teams throughout central Maine will participate. Teams will play 25-minute games.
“It’s something I always look forward to every year,” Winslow head coach Mary Beth Bourgoin said. “It’s like the first celebration of the season. It’s just become such a fun way to get things going.”
Mt. Blue, Winthrop, Skowhegan, Messalonskee, Nokomis, Gardiner, Erskine, Lawrence, Cony, Maine Central Institute, Maranacook and Mount View will compete. Biddeford, Falmouth and Gorham will also make the trip north to compete.
Cony High School field hockey players practice on Fuller Field earlier this week. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal
“If you talk to the coaches, I think we all have pretty much the same approach to the day,” Bourgoin said. “It’s a way for to say, ‘Okay, where are we (as a team)? What do we have going on that’s working?’ The other thing that I like to try is, ‘OK, let’s put this player in (a certain position), or (another position),’ and see what’s going to help develop the best fit for what we need for the team.”
A part of the afternoon that has become tradition at the Central Maine Play Day is the dance-off during the lunch period (scheduled between 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.), with teams showcasing their performing skills. Bourgoin said her team always looks forward to the dance-off, planning their performance days in advance.
“It’s become a big deal,” Bourgoin said. “(The team) starts preparing before the season starts. ‘OK, what are going to do for the song? When are we going to start working it out?’ Usually, in the morning we have a practice, and we’ll have a break, and they go ‘We’re going to work on our dance moves during the break.’ It’s just become a really good bonding experience for the team.”
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High school football fans itching to see some action will have some options this weekend.
Lawrence will travel to Brunswick for a 10 a.m. scrimmage Saturday. Lisbon, a Class D contender, will play defending Class C North champion Winslow at 11 a.m. Saturday. Cony will play a preseason scrimmage at Leavitt at 11 a.m. Saturday as well. Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale, which fell to Foxcroft Academy in the Class D state title game last November, will face Class A Bangor, also on Saturday at 11 a.m.
“We always try to play a good opponent (for the first scrimmage), Leavitt definitely fits that mold,” Cony coach BL Lippert said.
Edward Little will host Mt. Blue at 7 p.m.
More area scrimmages are lined up for Monday, too. Among them, Gardiner will play at Oak Hill at 2 p.m.
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