Little Ten Conference

About Us

Little Ten Conference History

The Little Ten Conference made it's debut in the year 1951 thanks to the efforts of Dexter head coach Don Holsapple and Dexter principal Phil Mealey. The very first game was played on September 8, 1951, between Orono High School and Mattanawcook Academy. The game was won by Orono 14-7 and coincidently, it would be the only game that Orono would win that season and the only game that MA would lose.

Norman H. Fay High School of Dexter, coached by Don Holsapple, would claim the first ever LTC crown and was also declared the Class F State Champion. This team was led by Dick Barstow who would later go on to play at Syracuse University on the same team as legendary Hall of Famer Jim Brown. During the first years of the league, the LTC governed its own point system while the state had its own. It was not uncommon at that time to have the LTC champion not be the state champion. The Mealey Point System was used through the 1950's and 60's up to through the middle part of the 1970's.

The first LTC Championship game was played in 1978 between Orono and Rockland. It wasn't until 1991, that there were championship games played in two different classes.

Over the course of the next 59 years, teams moved in and out of of the LTC due to changing conferences, moving up to Class A or B, dropping down from Class B, becoming a new MPA sanctioned program, or dropping football altogether. Below are the teams that have at one point or another, been in the LTC since 1951.

* Bar Harbor HS 1951-1954, 1958-2000

Brewer HS 1991-1996, 1999-2002

* Bucksport HS 1951-Present

Calais HS 2007-

* Crosby HS of Belfast 1951-1957, 1979-2002

* Norman H Day (Dexter) 1951-Present

* Foxcroft Academy 1951-2016, 2017 - Present

* Ellsworth HS 1951-1955

* Greenville HS 1951-1971

* Hampden Academy 1951-2002

Higgins Classical Institute 1963-1968

John Bapst Memorial HS 1971-

Warsaw HS 1969-1970

Maranacook HS 1998-, 2003-2004

* Mattanawcook Academy 1951-Present

Maine Central Institute 1977-2016

Messalonskee HS 1987-2000

Mt. View HS 2007-Present

Old Town HS 1972-2002, 2007-

* Orono HS 1951-present

Rockland 1978-2000, 2003-

Stearns HS 1963-Present

Winslow HS 1991-2002

Houlton HS 2013-Present

* Original Member

As we approach the 60th season of the LTC, it has been a pleasure to be a part of this league as a player, a coach, an administrator, and the current league secretary and treasurer. The historical information provided would not be possible without the efforts of current MDI football assistant and former head coach at Old Town, Ian Braun, who helped research and publish the book entitled "50 Years of the LTC" with me back in 2000. It was a labor of love for the greatest conference in the history of Maine high school football.

I am in hopes that everyone will enjoy the website created by Paul Shaw of Dexter High School. His expertise and vision has been much appreciated.