NORTH HAVEN — North Haven Community School will forego its 2025-26 boys basketball season due to a lack of eligible players.
NHCS, which serves grades kindergarten through 12, has an enrollment of only 51 students, 16 of whom are high school-aged.
Athletic director Laura MacDonald made the decision earlier this month.
“We did an anonymous survey and we only had three kids that were interested,” she said. “And our eighth graders all decided to stay and play Busline for the year.”
The Hawks graduated six players from last year’s team that was 13 deep. Others, simply, did not want to suit up this season.
North Haven has one of the smallest school enrollments in the state. Typically, the Maine Principals’ Association will allow eighth graders to compete on the school’s varsity team.
However, the school’s four eighth graders opted to compete with their classmates on the middle school coed team, which has 14 players and competes in the Busline League.
MacDonald said she hopes the team will reemerge next winter.
“We’re going to offer some alternatives and maybe do some weight training, scrimmages with different schools to keep the kids active that do want to play.”
North Haven will field a varsity girls team this winter with only six players.
This is the third time in the past several years the Hawk boys have failed to field a team. North Haven was unable to do so from 2006-08 and again for the 2016-17 campaign.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.
