St. Dominic Academy’s golf season will be at least three weeks longer this fall.

In addition to the Maine Principals’ Association season, the Saints are joining the Maine Association of Independent School Athletic Directors golf league.

The MAISAD is a conference within the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council. The MAISAD’s primary members include Bridgton Academy, Gould Academy, Hebron Academy, Hyde School and Kents Hill.

“We are still in the MPA. We will still play our Western Maine Conference regular season and conference championship and states,” St. Dom’s golf coach Chris Whitney said. “Joining the MAISAD, we have added the ability to add more matches against some of the local prep schools.

“But, at the same time, the MAISAD championship is not until the last week of October. So it will keep a competitive aspect to where that varsity team can get three, four more weeks out of the golf season rather than your normal high school season, which ends in that first week of October.”

The Western Maine Conference championship is at Natanis in Vassalboro on Sept. 26. The MPA individual and team state championships are on Oct. 7 at Natanis.

St. Dom’s isn’t the only WMC team adding the MAISAD schedule to extend its golf season. North Yarmouth Academy also will play prep matches after the MPA season ends.

Like St. Dom’s, NYA athletic director Kelsy Ross said the benefit of joining MAISAD is keeping the athletes on the course longer in the fall.

“Hopefully, our participation will help solidify the MAISAD league numbers and provide our golfers with additional golfing while maintaining our commitment to the WMC and MPA,” Ross said in an email to the Sun Journal.

St. Dom’s will play three regular-season MAISAD matches after the MPA season is complete.

On Oct. 11, the Saints travel to Lake Winnipesaukee Golf Club in New Durham, New Hampshire, to take on Brewster Academy of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, which plays in the MAISAD league for golf, as well as NYA and Kents Hill. St. Dom’s takes on Gould, Hebron and NYA at the Bethel Inn Golf Club on Oct. 13. The Saints’ final regular season match is against Gould at Bethel Inn on Oct. 18.

Brewster will host the MAISAD League championship at Lake Winnipesaukee on Oct. 25.

Whitney said a longer season will likely help with athlete participation. The Saints aren’t hurting for numbers, however, with 20 students currently signed up to play golf this season — and that number might jump to 25, Whitney said, when practice begins Monday.

The middle school expects to have 15 golfers this season.

“That’s one of the things you get a lot with participation, and numbers wise, is kids see it as, ‘Hey, I can play soccer until the end of October, football goes until the end of October, early November,'” Whitney said. “When you get school actually starting, golf is four, five weeks long if you count the preseason. Kids are like, ‘Ugh,’ and they will go and venture off.”

Whitney said he mentioned joining the MAISAD golf league to St. Dom’s Athletic Director Andrew Pelletier soon after Pelletier was hired in the summer of 2022. Pelletier said at the time that he wanted to ease into his new position, but Whitney pushed for it again this offseason.

“Chris is a really eager golf coach,” Pelletier said. “He really wants to provide his kids with everything he can. Last year, he was bugging me to try to do a little more, but I just wanted to get through the first season.”

Pelletier and Whitney said St. Dom’s has some golfers who want to play competitively in college, and joining the MAISAD will allow those student-athletes more opportunities to be seen by coaches at the next level.

“We have our fair share of kids who have excelled at the state competitions and their all-conference accolades and finishing in the top 10 individually in Class C for the state championship,” Whitney said. “… Now we are a program that goes an extra month and can be more appealing to kids that are may be looking to take that jump to college golf.

“Really, the high school golf season goes as long as college golf in the area. So, coaches have a slim opportunity to see kids play. They may make it out to the state championship. … Now we have an extra month for kids to get coaches to get looks at them, meet with them, or talk to them.”

NYA is an associate member of the NESPAC because its boys hockey team plays in the Holt Conference and its girls hockey team plays in the Vaillancourt Conference. NYA’s outdoor track and field team competes in the MAISAD, along with the WMC and MPA schedules.

Kents Hill also plays an MPA and MAISAD golf schedule. The Huskies have regular-season MAISAD matches and the conference championship, but they also compete at the Mountain Valley Conference and MPA state championships.

Pelletier said he’s not looking to add a MAISAD schedule for any other sports program that St. Dom’s offers.

“Right now, it’s another opportunity for golf,” Pelletier said. “I am happy with every sport we have in the MPA. Every opportunity we have within the MPA provides us with a great opportunity for our sports. We are looking at the MPA golf season and saying, ‘Is there a way to play more golf competitively after that season?'”

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