High school sports have felt the widespread impact of the federal immigration crackdown in Maine.

Coaches hurrying student-athletes onto buses to ensure they are quickly off public streets. Marked drop-offs at indoor track facilities. An abundance of student-athletes missing practices and games across all sports because they don’t feel safe getting to and from school. Athletic and school administrators scrambling to make sure their venues are secure, and having plans in place just in case.

The enhanced U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Maine, dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day,” has been the front-burner issue for student-athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators — especially in the greater Portland area.

“As a community, there was just a heightened sense of, you might say, anxiety and concern for the well-being of our students who were dealing with what was happening,” said Todd Livingston, athletic director at South Portland High.

Sen. Susan Collins stated early Thursday that the enhanced ICE operations in Maine are over. Federal authorities announced Thursday they had arrested 206 people in Maine.

Advocacy groups and civic leaders have said continued caution is necessary, noting regular immigration enforcement and Border Patrol activities were happening before the surge in enforcement personnel and will continue.

But there are signs that the overall anxiety and fear felt by students is lessening. Reports of active ICE operations have slowed. After days of “pretty significant” attendance declines at South Portland, Livingston said “there was an uptick in attendance (Wednesday) and it was even better (Thursday). That’s a positive.”

ATTENDANCE DECLINES HIT SPORTS

“As the athletic director, the information that I’ve received is that attendance is down 5% from what it would normally have been. That has absolutely impacted some of our teams,” said Mark Campbell, the athletic director Westbrook High.

Attendance drops have been much steeper elsewhere.

Portland Public Schools said more than 1,100 students districtwide were absent last Friday, a 10% increase in absenteeism compared to the rate for the first half of January. South Portland, and Biddeford, have also reported noticeable attendance declines.

Lewiston High Athletic Director Jason Fuller said Wednesday night that attendance declines at his school have been “very minimal,” and the messaging continues to be that school is a safe place.

The impact of those absences were obvious at last Saturday’s regularly scheduled indoor track meet at the University of Southern Maine between Portland, South Portland, Deering and the Cheverus/Waynflete co-operative team.

Overall entries for the three public schools were down 13.4% compared to the previous week’s meets at USM, held three days before the ICE crackdown in Maine began.

The South Portland girls team’s total entries dropped from 114 to 86, a 24.6% decrease. Deering’s boys’ entries declined from 66 to 50, another 24% drop. Athletes can enter up to three events in one meet. Portland’s entries declined by 14% for boys and nearly 16% for girls. As an example, 30 South Portland girls competed in the 55-meter dash on Jan. 17. The next week, 19 entered the same race.

“The biggest impact was with our indoor track teams. We had much fewer athletes at that meet,” Livingston said.

Joe Russo has been Portland’s boys basketball coach for 36 seasons. In that time, many students who have immigrated to Portland have worn the Bulldogs’ uniform. As a veteran coach with over 500 wins, Russo is accustomed to having players miss practices and games because of injury or illness.

This is different. Up to five players on the roster of 30 have stopped going to school or practice, kept home by fearful parents, Russo said.

“This is more heartfelt. This is a very unfortunate situation,” Russo said. “It’s out of our control, so I wish I could do more. Protect the kids better. … They’re nervous and I don’t blame them.”

PREPARING FOR TOURNAMENT TIME

Maine’s high school boys and girls basketball tournaments in February are the state’s marquee high school sports events. Throughout the school vacation week, thousands of spectators descend on four neutral site facilities to watch their sons and daughters, their friends’ kids, their classmates.

Building security is always a concern. Creating a positive environment for the student-athletes is a priority, whether it’s at the Portland Expo or the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, the Augusta Civic Center, or the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

Those facilities now have to face the difficult task of preparing for the possibility that ICE agents could disrupt high school championships, said Patrick Bolduc, event coordinator at the Augusta Civic Center.

“There are so many variables it’s really been quite complicated,” he said. “It’s something we’re trying to figure out, especially with the tournaments coming up. That’s thousands of people coming in and out for two weeks.”

Bolduc said his facility can control access to many areas inside the facility. But they are working to define what is public space and what is private space. Outside the arena is definitely public space where federal immigration officers could make arrests without any warrants.

The athletes will enter the building through a secure, separate entrance, as they have done for years at the ACC — and also at both Portland venues.

“The athletes are the ones I’m least concerned about,” Bolduc said. “We have a designated area where they enter. They’re away from everybody and that entrance is behind a gated area as well. I don’t see that as an issue. But we will have security in that area. We always do.”

The Maine Principals’ Association rents the large venues for its basketball tournaments, as well as college sites, like at Bates College and USM for indoor track meets, and Colby College for swimming.

The MPA is actively working with facilities and local law enforcement to make sure they know each building’s protocols, said Mike Burnham, the MPA’s executive director for interscholastic activities.

“We want to make sure what we do follows what each one of those communities and facilities follow,” Burnham said “We’ve got to do the planning. We’ve got to be prepared. We’re not creating our own policy.”

“It’s not about a basketball game. It’s bigger. We all understand that,” Burnham said.

SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Federal immigration agents began targeting Maine with increased presence and intensity on Jan. 20. Authorities said they had targeted 1,400 immigrants for apprehension who are criminals or in the country illegally.

With masked federal agents wearing tactical gear spotted on the streets, some parents have stopped going to jobs in order to keep their school-age children home.

“It is because they are afraid to just basically do the normal things they would do because of the possible repercussions to come down the line. That’s no way for a city or people to have to live,” said Rocco “Rocky” Frenzilli, Portland High’s boys soccer coach.

Frenzilli, 77, started Portland’s soccer program in 1972 and has welcomed immigrant students for nearly as long.

“Always have and always will,” Frenzilli said.

“We were on the crux of this whole situation when the refugees first started to come to the United States, the Vietnamese, the Cambodians, then the Eastern Europeans,” Frenzilli says. “I’ve had nothing but the utmost respect for these people coming in and doing what they’re doing and raising their kids.”

Frenzilli is a life-long Portland resident, growing up in East Deering where there was a large Italian American population.

“How many times do you think I was called an immigrant slur growing up?” Frenzilli said, noting that while he faced bigotry and prejudice he and his family didn’t fear being deported because of their ethnicity.

“Exactly. My parents and grandparent came here legally and they did everything they needed to do and they started to build a future for their family.

“If I’m not mistaken here, these people are trying to do the same exact thing,” Frenzilli said, noting “I really feel these kids and these people are good for the city.”

In South Portland, Livingston echoed Frenzilli’s sentiments.

“We love our community and our students and our families and I’m glad to see they’re returning to schools and we try to support them anyway we can.”