If you’re a female student at Waterville Senior High School, and you’re not playing sports, the field hockey team could use you. At this point, they’re not too picky.

Waterville has 14 players on its roster, but two of them are out of state and another is ineligible. So for the time being, the Purple Panthers are playing with the minimum 11 players.

“I think it’s a given,” Waterville coach Ashley Pullen said. “They’ve done a really good job of not complaining. They know what the situation is coming in, and they grit their teeth and they do it.”

Before one of the games at the Central Maine Field Hockey Playday, a Waterville player was hit in the head with a ball. So the Panthers had to go with 10 players for several minutes while that player recovered.

If Waterville doesn’t pick up a few more players, fatigue in overtime games could be a bit of an issue. Pullen has been talking about the need for mental toughness in this kind of situation.

“I think we have played pretty well — especially considering that we have no subs,” Pullen said.

Cony is also dealing with a shortage in numbers. The Rams, who play in Class A and have around 800 students in the high school, have a total of 20 players in their program.

“The girls are good with it,” Cony coach Holly Daigle said. “I’m just looking at it as it’s more time on the field for us to improve.”

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Fans attending the exhibition football game between Winslow and Waterville at Waterville’s Drummond Field on Saturday afternoon are asked to bring a new toy to support the Maine Home for Little Wanderers.

Some suggested items that are needed include thinsulate gloves (ages 2-12), warm winter clothes sizes 2-16, legos, anything from Fisher Price playskool, playmobile, coloring books, Thomas the Train toys, Dora and Diego toys, arts and crafts kits, science experiment kits, Hotwheels playsets, and any Nerf toys.

Anyone bringing a new toy will receive a dollar off admission to the game. Kickoff is 1 p.m.

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This year will be just like last year for the Oak Hill field hockey team. The Raiders will hop on a bus, and it will take them where they need to go. It many cases, that will be practice.

Oak Hill is one of three local teams which will not have a regular home field for at least part of the season. The Raiders will be playing at Carrie Ricker Middle School in Litchfield, where they played their home games last fall.

“It is a nice field,” coach Brittany Stilphen said, “and luckily, we do have a bus that takes the girls right to the field from the high school for practice. We would be playing in the outfield of the softball or baseball field (at Oak Hill).”

Mt. Blue will be playing its home games at the University of Maine at Farmington. Winslow’s home games are at the junior high school until construction is complete on the new high school track, which encircles the high school field hockey field.

Winslow coach Mary Beth Bourgoin said she was told the Black Raiders could be back on their field by the end of September. Until then, the junior high field is right near the high school, so it’s not a big issue.

“It’s a good field. The girls know it, because they played on it through the junior high,” Bourgoin said.

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Randy Richardson took Kents Hill to several Maine Association of Independent Schools Athletic Directors championship games during his 10 years as coach of the Huskies. Richardson was not brought back as coach before the 2011 season, and spent last season as an official. Now he’s back on the other side as the new coach at Lewiston High School.

“I’ve been coaching since 1980,” Richardson said. “I loved the umpiring — it’s the lure of the teaching aspect that drew me back.”

Lewiston went 2-9-3 last season, but still had about 40 players try out this season. Richardson, who also coaches with the Katahdin field hockey club team out of southern Maine, says he is thrilled to be coaching the Blue Devils.

“It’s a dream come true,” Richardson said. “It’s the first time in my career where I have the opportunity to build a team from the bottom up. I’ve got an opportunity to develop field hockey all the way down from the high school to the elementary level, which is a fantastic opportunity.”

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Junior Andrew Pratt is the backup quarterback at Mt. Blue, but expect to see Pratt do a number of things for the Cougars this season.

Coach Gary Parlin said he could use Pratt at quarterback, wide receiver, cornerback, free safety, strong safety, and on special teams.

“Honestly, if I asked him to play guard today, tomorrow he’d know all the plays,” Parlin said.

Pratt is the grandson of former Mt. Blue coach Ray Caldwell.

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Nokomis made a good addition to its coaching staff in new assistant coach Carl Parker. The boys basketball coach at Nokomis, Parker also is a veteran football coach, although he estimates it’s been 20 years since he coached football.

“The game’s the same,” Parker said. “It’s still about blocking and tackling, and playing with passion.”