CASTINE, Maine — Maine Maritime Academy announced Monday its football program is returning after a two-year suspension.
The college put a pause on the program in August 2020 due to financial challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the need for two additional sea terms to alleviate the backlog of sea days created by the cancellation of the 2020 summer sea term, according to a Maine Maritime release.
Maine Maritime began fundraising to restore the program in September 2022 and raised $562,000 over a three-month period, covering 75 percent of the academy's unbudgeted costs to restart the program's operation, the college said.
Dr. William Brennan, MMA's president at the time of the suspension, said at the time that football was the school's most expensive non-academic program.
MMA also announced Monday that it will compete in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) beginning in 2025. The Mariners will begin competition as a sub-varsity program in 2023 and continue to replenish the roster through a sub-varsity 2024 season, according to the release.
"I am incredibly excited about the energy that has been building around the football program over the past several months," MMA athletic director Steve Peed said. "The restoration of football really ends the pandemic-footing we have been standing on in this department for too long and makes us whole again."
Maine Maritime is preparing for a full, 10-game slate in 2025. The CCC features two Maine colleges, Husson University and the University of New England, as well as Curry College, Endicott College, Nichols College, and Western New England University. Salve Regina University is currently a member of the CCC but is slated to move to the New England Men's and Women's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) in 2023, according to MMA.
Monday's release stated that MMA is already having conversations with Massachusetts Maritime Academy about resuming the Admiral's Cup, an annual showdown between the two schools dating back to 1946.
