FRYEBURG – A special committee is working with SAD 72 students, coaches, parents and schools to create an athletic curriculum to lift the academy to the top of the Maine high school sports arena.

Attorney Dave Hastings II, a lifelong resident of Fryeburg and tackle on the undefeated Fryeburg Academy football team in 1941, said there were no state playoff games then. “Being undefeated was as good as it gets,” he said. “We had a good bunch of players and good coach, it was that simple.”

The private academy that serves SAD 72 high school students, has not had an undefeated football season since. It has had state championship teams in 1963 and 1965, though, and the Fryeburg Academy Raiders had state championship teams in basketball in 1976, baseball in 1982 and 1983 and several ski championships and wrestling titles. Most recently it had a girls cross country state championship.

But these sporadic titles are not enough for some enthusiastic alumni athletes who would like to see Fryeburg achieve more.

“The role of a balanced athletic program should be a vital part of any student’s educational experience,” said Asa Pike IV, Class of 1957 and vice president of the Fryeburg Academy Board of Trustees. “Much of life is about competing. Young people need to have opportunities to compete, to win, and, occasionally, to lose. Sports can provide a healthy mechanism for that portion of the educational process.

“Fryeburg Academy intends to provide its students with a strong sports program that does just that. We take education seriously here, and student athletics are, appropriately, an important part of the educational offerings of our school,” he said.

To begin the effort Board President Conrad K. Eastman of the Class of 1948 appointed an Athletic Evaluation Committee chaired by Dick Cote of Fryeburg, a retired state trooper and academy trustee.

“Athletics provided me with a foundation in life, an introduction to discipline” Cote said. “This carried on in my military and law enforcement careers.”

Cote, also the director of the Fryeburg Recreation Department, said, “We needed to take a long look at why some sports are successful and some are not, why some sports struggle and what we can do to improve the programs.”

He, in turn, selected eight area residents to work with him on a mission to review the state of athletics at Fryeburg Academy. The committee was also commissioned to make recommendations for improvement.

Serving with him are Beth Westerberg Griffin, a 1983 graduate of the academy and mother of twin 7-year-old sons, who said her input on the committee focused more on the beneficial psychological aspects of sports.

“Athletic participation builds self-confidence and self-esteem. It’s good to experience competition and understand its role in life. Team building is a critical life skill,” said the academy skier and tennis player in the 1980s.

Charlie Tryder, athletic director and English teacher at Fryeburg Academy, is also on the committee. He cited the importance of an academic curriculum and said academics and athletics often play similar roles in enhancing student development.

Jim Osgood, committee member and 1985 academy graduate, is a football, basketball and baseball devotee and former player. He said he supports the theory that competition is good for a student’s development.

“I’d like to see a smooth flow of athleticism in Fryeburg beginning in kindergarten right through graduation from Fryeburg Academy,” he said.

The district includes the towns of Fryeburg, Lovell, Brownfield, Denmark, Stoneham, Sweden and Stow.

Cote said the committee worked with many high schools and athletic directors throughout the state of Maine and has written a handbook for athletes and their parents and another one for coaches.

The panel is focusing on the need to bring SAD 72’s elementary schools, the Molly Ockett Middle School in Fryeburg and the academy together with one planned athletic curriculum.

“This way, one athletic program feeds the next and kids step up the athletic growth ladder, without missing a beat,” Tryder said.

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