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Anyone who played junior varsity or varsity football for St. Paul last season will do so again this season. Sophomores who were not on the varsity or junior varsity as freshmen will play for Mills, Machol said. Conditioning for the junior varsity program began Aug. 18 at two baseball fields located off Foote Road, Machol said.
"The big question (for varsity) is where we're going to play," Machol said. "Right now we don't have a field."
"In terms of our planning, we're looking at two years of junior varsity," Athletic Director Dave Tanner said. "It needs to be a responsible transition, and responsible to everyone involved."
Tanner said the program will be evaluated at the end of each year.
"We want to do it right and we want to do it when our kids are ready," Tanner said.
Players who played at St. Paul are grandfathered into the tri-op, meaning they will play for St. Paul, this season by the CIAC, Tanner said. Lewis Mills will also work with St. Paul and Goodwin Tech, he added.
Discussions about fielding a football program at Lewis Mills have been swirling for years, but they came to a head in November 2007, when the Region 10 Board of Education approved the junior varsity program after listening to a presentation. The idea has been pushed by the Region 10 football booster club. Machol was hired as head coach in early January 2008.
Machol knew there work be a big work load in a start-up program.
"There's a lot of things," he said. "I wish I could just concentrate on football."
Other issues included the ordering of equipment and figuring out budgets. Lewis Mills' practice field off Foote Road stretches from one baseball outfield to another. Machol is impressed with what has transpired.
"(The fields are) actually working out better than I thought it would," Machol said.
Machol spoke highly of the local feeder program, which includes football teams in the Farmington Valley and a new program in New Hartford. He said two-thirds of the 53 players who have come out have played football at some level. The head coaching position is Machol's first.
"There's so much I want to get in," Machol said. "The kids are handling it really well."
Machol said he had "some very sleepless nights" leading up to conditioning week.
Tanner is also excited about the new team.
"It's really kind of neat thing to watch," Tanner said about the start of the program. "You have a lot of kids who wouldn't have played fall sports at all."
Tanner said the enthusiasm of the workouts was fun to watch.
"Chris has put together a fantastic staff," Tanner said. "The energy behind the program is great."
As far as varsity football goes, Tanner said he "hasn't had very specific dialogue" about what conference the Spartans would play in. The Berkshire League does not have its own football league, as the co-ops at Gilbert/Northwestern and Housatonic/Wamogo, along with Wolcott Tech and Nonnewaug, compete in the Pequot Conference. BL by-laws state that 50 percent of the league's 12 teams would need to have a program for a Berkshire League football program to be formed, Tanner said, though he added it's up for debate whether the co-ops count as one program or two by league standards.
The St. Paul/Goodwin Tech/Lewis Mills varsity team went 2-8 last season. The tri-op competes in the Northwest Conference.
