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We’re about to tread on new high school sports ground here in Maine. This weekend, the Maine Principals’ Association is moving into territory usually reserved for brunch, yard work, or simple quiet time with coffee and a book.

We will have high school sports in Maine on a Sunday. This Sunday.

The MPA’s state singles quarterfinals and semifinals, as well as doubles semifinals and finals, are set for Sunday at Bates College. The MPA changed its long-standing rule against Sunday competition a year ago to allow for a makeup day in extreme situations.

That type of situation came this year in the form of rainy days that made outdoor tennis courts unplayable. Singles and doubles matches were moved inside to the Colby College fieldhouse on Thursday and Friday, but the limited number of indoor courts slows the tournament.

While much of the country eased restrictions on doing pretty much anything on Sunday over the later part of the last century, Maine held its blue laws in a firm grip. It took a state referendum in 1990 to allow most retailers to open on Sundays. Sunday hunting is still outlawed (do animals circle Sundays on their calendars?).

Mike Bisson, the assistant executive director of the MPA, noted that youth sports have played on Sunday for years. In explaining how the MPA came to the decision to open Sundays for makeup contests, Bisson used a wrestling meet as an example. The large conference, regional and state championship meets are all-day affairs, and because of that, they’re usually scheduled for a Saturday. If there’s a winter storm, finding a makeup day can be a problem. You don’t want so many students out of class all day, and you certainly don’t want hundreds of fans coming and going from a high school while classes are in session.

The MPA actually allowed for Sunday competition in 2020, out of state, when it agreed to the New England wrestling championships on a Sunday in Methuen, Massachusetts, because there were problems finding a host site for the meet.

As the rain fell this week, it became apparent it was time for the MPA to unwrap the new Sunday rule for the first time in Maine.

Falmouth boys tennis coach Jamie Hilton coaches two of the top boys in the singles tournament, defending champ and No. 1 seed Matt Morneault and No. 3 seed Adrian Mazurenko. Hilton said he can see both sides of the issue.

One one hand, opening Sunday gives the MPA scheduling flexibility, especially with the rainy spring. It should allow for playing under decent conditions no matter what Mother Nature concocts, Hilton wrote in a text message.

“At the same time, this is already a long week for everybody involved. Players, coaches, families, officials, media,” Hilton said. “And traditionally, that Sunday gave everyone a chance to reset a little bit physically and mentally. I do think there’s value in that, too.”

This season was a perfect storm of conditions to enact the new Sunday protocols, Hilton said. With the rain, limited access to indoor facilities, and matches spread all over the place, it’s easy to see why the decision was made. We’ll probably learn a lot from it this year, Hilton said. Maybe it will open the door to state championship Sundays.

For now, that’s not the plan, Bisson said. For the time being, Sunday competition will remain an option for extreme cases only. Unlike some states, including our neighbor New Hampshire, Sunday state finals are not on the table. Regular season events certainly are not, Bisson said.

Hilton is right. There’s something to be said for a built-in day of nothing. There’s a subtle joy, almost relief, in waking up on a Sunday with the knowledge that you have absolutely nothing to do that you don’t want to do. Strip away the original religious overtones of the Sunday prohibition. It’s just nice to have day to lounge, if that’s your desire. The world throws a lot at you every day. A day to ignore the noise is always welcome.

Will Weeks, Thornton Academy’s girls tennis coach, had a healthy take on the situation. In a text message, Weeks said neither he nor his team had strong feelings for or against Sunday play.

“Any day we get to play tennis is a great day,” Weeks said.

That is the exact correct way to look at it, with excitement and joy.