The Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) is the governing body for sports competitions among all public and some private high schools in the state of Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations

National Federation of State High School Associations

The National Federation of State High School Associations is the body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports and activities in the United States. Most high schools, whether public or private, belong to their state's high school association; in turn, each state association...

. The MPA offices are located in Augusta

Augusta, Maine

Augusta is the capital of the US state of Maine, county seat of Kennebec County, and center of population for Maine. The city's population was 19,136 at the 2010 census, making it the third-smallest state capital after Montpelier, Vermont and Pierre, South Dakota...

.

History

First established in 1927 as the State Principals' Association, it became the Maine Principals' Association in 1992 as a result of a merger between the Maine Secondary School Principals' Association (est. 1951) and the Maine Elementary Principals' Association (est. 1975).

Athletic Classifications

Schools competing under the MPA are grouped into (at most) four classes, with different enrollment cutoffs for each sport (Broken down by season)http://mpa.cc/pdf/cutoffsweb.pdf:

Fall

Sport	Class A	Class B	Class C	Class D
Cross Country Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...	760 & up	450-759	0-449
Field Hockey Field hockey Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...	775 & up	440-774	0-439
Football	775 & up	535-774	0-534
Golf Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....	700 & up	375-699	0-374
Soccer	725 & up	400-724	200-399	0-199
Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...	475 & up	0-474

Winter

Sport	Class A	Class B	Class C	Class D
Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...	735 & up	400-724	200-399	0-199
Cheerleading Cheerleading Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...	735 & up	400-724	200-399	0-199
Drama Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...	550 & up	0-549
Boys'ice hockey Ice hockey Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...	850 & up	0-849
Girls'ice hockey Ice hockey Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...	Only One Class
Skiing Skiing Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....	675 & up	500-674	0-499
Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...	785 & up	0-784
Indoor Track	800 & up	0-799
Wrestling Wrestling Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...	715 & up	485-714	0-484

Spring

Sport	Class A	Class B	Class C	Class D
Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...	735 & up	400-724	200-399	0-199
Lacrosse Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...	830 & up	0-829
Softball Softball Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...	735 & up	400-724	200-399	0-199
Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...	720 & up	400-419	0-399
Outdoor Track	800 & up	500-799	0-499

Schools are reclassified every two years. The classification thresholds are currently being adjusted and would go into effect for the fall 2009 sports season. A school may petition the Association to play in a class above or below its enrollment figure. Currently, most sports are split into "Eastern" and" "Western" divisions.
Championships are played at several locations around the state including Fitzpatrick Stadium

Fitzpatrick Stadium

Fitzpatrick Stadium is a 6,300 seat multi-purpose outdoor stadium in Portland, Maine, USA. It is located between Interstate 295, Hadlock Field baseball stadium, and the Portland Exposition Building, the second oldest arena in continuous operation in the United States. It is located across the...

 (football) and basketball championships between the Bangor Auditorium

Bangor Auditorium

The Bangor Auditorium is a 5,948 seat multipurpose arena located in downtown Bangor, Maine. It opened October 1, 1955 and is used for concerts , sporting events, circus performances, political rallies, as well as trade shows with 16,000 square feet of space. It shares the same complex as the...

, Augusta Civic Center)

Augusta Civic Center (Maine)

The Augusta Civic Center is a 6,777-seat multi-purpose arena, in Augusta, Maine, USA, owned by the city of Augusta. It has a total of and 26 rooms...

, the Portland Exposition Building

Portland Exposition Building

The Portland Exposition Building was designed by Fredrick A. Thompson and is located in Portland, Maine. It is the second oldest arena in continuous operation in the United States...

 and the Cumberland County Civic Center

Cumberland County Civic Center

The Cumberland County Civic Center is a 6,733-seat multi-purpose arena, in Portland, Maine. Built in 1977, at a cost of $8 million, it is home to the Portland Pirates ice hockey team, various trade shows and the Maine Principals' Association high school basketball tournament...

 depending on class and geographical division.
The MPA using a mathematical system called heal points to determine tournament standings, the latest heal points and an explanation on how to determine the points can be found here.
Currently basketball, soccer, ice hockey, lacrosse and tennis are the only sports to have separate male and female teams, baseball is male only and softball is female only. Girls ice hockey became a sanctioned sport as of the winter 2008 season. http://www.sunjournal.com/story/239625-3/LocalSports/Girls_hockey_makes_jump/

Responsibilities other than athletic

The MPA also includes Debate, Drama, Music, National Honor Society

National Honor Society

The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...

, Science Fair, Speech and Student Council as their responsibilities. In addition to interscholastic events, the MPA offers a "Professional Division", which provides opportunities for education and professional advancement for elementary, middle/junior high and high school principals, assistant principals, technical education center directors, assistant directors and other administrators who function primarily as building principals or assistant principals.