{"id":303,"date":"2023-05-16T15:51:23","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T15:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/?p=303"},"modified":"2023-05-16T17:37:36","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T17:37:36","slug":"football-is-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/campus-currents\/football-is-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Football is Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sports<\/span><\/p>\n

Football is Back<\/h1>\n

FOOTBALL IS RETURNING to Maine Maritime Academy with varsity competition to begin in 2025. The Mariners will be in the NCAA Division III Football Program and compete in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Mariners will begin competition as a sub-varsity program in 2023 and continue to replenish the roster through a sub-varsity 2024 season. <\/p>\n

In announcing the return of football, President Paul said, \u201cWe are proud to welcome students from across Maine and America to join in the rich tradition of Mariner football. This is an exciting time. As we restart the program there will be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to participate at the college level and be part of the Academy\u2019s next chapter of success while earning a world-class degree leading to a high-paying career in a growing market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leading the Mariners back on the field will be Head Football Coach Calvin Powell. Over his fifteen-year coaching career Powell has built the experience MMA needs. He was part of a start-up program at Texas Wesleyan and coached for a season at SUNY Maritime. Most recently, Powell served as the Assistant Head Coach with oversight of the offensive line and run game in his second stint at Langston University in Oklahoma. The 2022 Langston Lions ranked fifth in the nation in rushing and twelfth in the nation in points per game with Powell coaching five all-conference players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am excited Coach Powell has joined Team MMA to lead the return of Mariner Football,\u201d said Paul. \u201cHis past success as a coach, his personality, and the commitment he has pledged to our students seem like a perfect fit for continuing his trajectory of success here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell is excited, too. \u201cThe first thing that attracted me to this job was the opportunity to bring football back. I\u2019ll put my imprint on the foundation of the program and that\u2019s exciting,\u201d said Powell. \u201cI like recruiting a lot,\u201d he continued. \u201cI think it\u2019s really neat to meet kids seventeen, eighteen years old. You learn about their goals, learn about their plans for their future. Then it\u2019s great to see their development, and I get to shake their hand at graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell\u2019s thoughts are not just about the gridiron. \u201cWe all know what college athletics can do for young people. Giving them this experience and using the game to teach those life lessons is an important part of athletics.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a big job to bring football back. \u201cRestarting the football program required funding from many sources,\u201d said Paul, \u201cand a corresponding fundraising effort under the leadership of Len Tyler, past president of MMA, and Ed Scott \u201989. The fundraising team also included Stephen Dick \u201971, David Dodge \u201971, Bill Full \u201976, Larry Burrill \u201977, Wayne Norton \u201986, and Jeff Riedel \u201986. On behalf of Maine Maritime Academy, I extend the sincerest appreciation for this service.<\/p>\n

\"Football\"\u201cI am proud of the alumni support and the Alfond Foundation who made this program possible. We are grateful that they share our vision for the future of athletics at Maine Maritime Academy. The Academy received $566,778 in gifts from a total of 155 donors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gregory Powell, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Harold Alfond Foundation said, \u201cThe Board of the Harold Alfond Foundation is pleased to support Maine Maritime Academy\u2019s efforts to bring football back to its campus. More importantly, the reinstatement of football at the Academy will enhance the number of Maine students who wish to earn a degree from Maine Maritime Academy while continuing to play football in college.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sports<\/p>\n

Football is Back<\/p>\n

FOOTBALL IS RETURNING to Maine Maritime Academy with varsity competition to begin in 2025. The Mariners will be in the NCAA Division III Football Program and compete in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Mariners will begin competition as a sub-varsity program in 2023 and continue to replenish the roster through a sub-varsity 2024 season. <\/p>\n

In announcing the return of football, President Paul said, \u201cWe are proud to welcome students from across Maine and America to join in the rich tradition of Mariner football. This is an exciting time. As we restart the program there will be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to participate at the college level and be part of the Academy\u2019s next chapter of success while earning a world-class degree leading to a high-paying career in a growing market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leading the Mariners back on the field will be Head Football Coach Calvin Powell. Over his fifteen-year coaching career Powell has built the experience MMA needs. He was part of a start-up program at Texas Wesleyan and coached for a season at SUNY Maritime. Most recently, Powell served as the Assistant Head Coach with oversight of the offensive line and run game in his second stint at Langston University in Oklahoma. The 2022 Langston Lions ranked fifth in the nation in rushing and twelfth in the nation in points per game with Powell coaching five all-conference players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am excited Coach Powell has joined Team MMA to lead the return of Mariner Football,\u201d said Paul. \u201cHis past success as a coach, his personality, and the commitment he has pledged to our students seem like a perfect fit for continuing his trajectory of success here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell is excited,<\/p>\n

…Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":314,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions\/314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainemaritime.edu\/mariner\/issue1-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}