Editor’s note: The Sun Journal sports staff voted on the area’s top sports stories of 2023 and will be counting down the top 10 through the end of the year.

Two area schools, Edward Little and Winthrop, became the latest to add updated athletic facilities in 2023.

Included in the building of the new Edward Little High School, which opened in August, was an artificial turf field to replace the grass field where the Red Eddies soccer teams played. The new field also is home to the football, lacrosse and field hockey teams, which for decades have played off campus either at Walton Field or Sherwood Heights Elementary.

“Being an alum of Edward Little, and a resident of Auburn for most of my life, just to see these kids out here and have a top-notch quality facility, I can’t stop smiling,” Edward Little athletic director Todd Sampson said in August on the first day of fall practices. “I am so happy for them because they have had some subpar facilities. Field hockey has been at Sherwood Heights, football has been at Walton — I know all the traditions at Walton Field — but it’s just good that they are going to be here right on campus.”

The soccer teams were the first to try out the new digs when the first day of fall practices opened up on Aug. 14. The players were excited to take to the field on that Monday morning.

“It was really cool. I have been looking forward to this field for a while,” senior midfielder Katharine Garcia said. “Our old field was pretty muddy, so this is nice.”

“I can’t wait. Like coach (Max Thompson) just said, we will be the first team (practicing) under the lights,” Joe Martel, a center back on the boys team, said. “… It’s a beautiful field, and I can’t wait to get out there to start playing with the boys. It will be a good time.”

Tyler Shennett, the first-year girls soccer coach, has a good understanding of how much of an improvement the new field is. He played soccer at Edward Little, and the old surface was so uneven that he said players could never be certain which way the ball was going to bounce.

“It’s crazy because I grew up playing in this complex,” Shennett said. “I have very fond memories of playing in high school. It definitely helped my love for soccer. It’s a full circle. It’s crazy to come back here and be in a situation where we have this beautiful new complex, beautiful new turf, and for the inaugural season, I am glad to be back as a former alumni and to see what the team can bring this season.”

The football team, with new uniforms, played its first game on campus on Sept. 1 and suffered a 33-14 loss to Noble.

Inside the shiny, new high school in Auburn, which was a $126 million dollar project, is a new gymnasium that was ready just in time for the Edward Little volleyball program’s inaugural varsity season. The gym also just hosted the program’s first wrestling meet earlier this month.

“We are so thankful to the administration and the local support,” Edward Little volleyball coach Scott Berube said after the first home match against Gray-New Gloucester. “It was great to see the fans in the stands supporting this volleyball team for the first time ever.”

Building a new school with a new gym meant an end to 56 memorable years in the old Edward Little gym, which was considered by many to be one of the state’s better basketball venues.

In front a large crowd that showed up to bid it farewell, the Red Eddies sent the old court out in style in February. The girls basketball team defeated Lewiston 59-41. The boys teams’ rivalry showdown went down to the wire, and was won by Edward Little 42-41 on Eli St. Laurent’s last-second putback.

The new gym’s first varsity regular season basketball game welcomed Oxford Hills, the defending Class AA girls state basketball champions, which defeated Edward Little 59-44 during the opening weekend of the season.

The Red Eddies lacrosse teams will play on the main field this spring, and the track will be ready for the track and field squad. Sampson said earlier this year that he hopes the new tennis courts at the school will be ready for spring.

By 2025, the baseball and softball teams will also be on campus, making the move from Auburn Suburban and Central Maine Community College. There also will be a large rectangular practice field near the main field that should be ready by next year.

WINTHROP RENOVATES

Winthrop had to wait until midway through the fall season to play on the new turf at the renovated Charlie’s Field at Maxwell Complex at Winthrop Grade School.

“It’s tough being away from our locker room and our home base and dealing with all those side distractions, so we’re ready to get back,” Ramblers football head coach Dave St. Hilaire told the Kennebec Journal in August. “I got a chance to take a look at it yesterday, and it looks amazing. It can’t come soon enough.”

Since the new field wasn’t quite ready, the Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale/Kents Hill season-opening football game was moved to Don Roux Field at Lewiston High School.

The Ramblers football team finally got to try out the new digs on Sept. 23. Following a win by the eventual state-champion Winthrop field hockey team, the football team hosted Oak Hill/St. Dom’s on Charlie’s Field. The Raiders came away with a 20-12 win, but the Ramblers proceeded to win their next six games before falling to Wells in the Class D South regional final.

There was an official dedication of the complex before the Oct. 13 game against Lisbon, which the Ramblers won 21-0. The renovations were due in part of the Winthrop Athletic Complex Committee, headed by Charlie’s Family of Dealerships Vice President Stephen Shuman. The Shuman family donated $1.2 million to the project’s first phase — which includes new turf and bleachers — and the purchase of the field’s naming rights.

Charlie’s Family of Dealerships President Charles Shuman, a Winthrop resident and the field’s namesake, was a part of the Oct. 13 ceremony along with David Maxwell, the nephew of Alfred W. Maxwell Jr. David Maxwell was the first Winthrop resident killed in World War II when he died at Guadalcanal. For years, the field bore his name, but now the facility has that distinction.

“It’s the greatest thing in the world for the kids. That’s why we did it. I love kids,” said Charlie Shuman, a Winthrop resident of 38 years who received comments such as, “Thank you, Charlie,” and “We love you, Charlie,” from players during the ceremony.

The field, which features the Ramblers’ distinct bus logo at midfield, also hosts the boys soccer team, the Monmouth/Winthrop co-op girls soccer team, and the field hockey team. The field hockey team won its first two playoff games on the turf, beating Lisbon 9-0 and Hall-Dale 4-2 en route to its third straight Class C state championship.

Winthrop athletic director Joel Stoneton said the field renovation is big for the community.

“It’s certainly a dream come true, but it’s also kind of hard to wrap our head around, it’s kind of like I’m waiting for (the dream) to end,” Stoneton said at the dedication. “But it’s amazing for a town this size and population.”

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