AUBURN – The on-again off-again American Legion season for New Auburn Post 153 is off again.

Organizers decided not to give it a go due to a lack of players. A tryout Tuesday yielded 10 players.

“We really didn’t think we could make it through the season with 10 players,” said organizer Jack Ricker, who has managed New Auburn for the last three years. “We’re going to go into neutral for a year and take it as a learning experience.”

Players were urged to tell their friends and other potential players to contact the organizers about playing, but not enough responded.

“We thought in the next 24 hours, we might get some feedback from some other kids and we really didn’t get that,” Ricker said. “It just isn’t happening for New Auburn this year and that’s unfortunate.”

Ricker, coach Bob Blackman, as well as former coaches Brian Flynn and Scott Annear led the last-ditch effort to get a team organized. Ricker said a number of players’ parents and other people tried to pull things together in time for the season, which started Tuesday.

“I appreciate all of the people who helped us out,” he said. “Things got a little tough there and everyone stepped up to the plate. We did the best we could. We just didn’t get it done.”

Zone III commissioner Chuck Berube said there will be no additions made to the schedule to fill the holes left by New Auburn folding. The Zone III playoff, however, will be tweaked.

“It will just be an open date for the teams that were scheduled to play against New Auburn,” Berube said. “The playoffs, with an odd number of teams now, will change. The first place team gets an automatic bye on Friday and plays its first game on Saturday.”

Berube said players who would have played for New Auburn are eligible to play for another team in the zone.