OLD ORCHARD BEACH — As fall sports begin at Old Orchard Beach High School this week, an old varsity program will begin anew after a five-year hiatus.

The Seagulls will have their first varsity girls soccer program in half a decade.

Old Orchard Beach head coach Eva Tomecka said the school stopped having a varsity program five years ago, as interest in the program dropped amongst students, as well as the pee-wee and middle school soccer programs.

“The numbers sort of dwindled,” Tomecka said. “We had trouble with the feeder program. This has been four years in the works and we’re very excited.”

Tomecka gave much of the credit of the rejuvination of the program to Lance Foss, one of Tomecka’s assistant coaches this season. She said it was Foss’ hard work in recruiting players and sparking interest at the middle school level that helped get the program back on track.

Tomecka said the team also has had success at the club level in the last few years, including an 8-1 record last season.

“It’s also based on the fact we outscored opponents 41-2 last season,” she said.

The regular season will not be kind to the Seagulls. They will have to play against soccer powerhouses Wayneflete and North Yarmouth Academy during the regular season. Both schools have dominated girls soccer at the Maine Class C level, as North Yarmouth has won five state championships between 2003 to 2007, an Wayneflete returns as the defending state champion this season.

Tomecka said the goal for the 2009 season is to stay competitive with each team Old Orchard Beach plays.

“I’m planning on a building year,” she said. “Our team is relatively young. We’re just hoping to build our program.”

While young, the Seagulls will have talented players returning this season from their strong club level performance last season, including defender Katie Hatch, who Tomecka said brings speed on defense, midfielder Kelsey Koenigs, who Tomecka said “has great ball skills,” as well as midfielder Jillian Foss, who Tomecka said “has the ability to control midfield.”

Tomecka said the perfect season for the Seagulls in 2009 would be to have fun.

“I would like for the girls to have fun and improve game to game,” she said. “I’m hoping to win a couple of games. We’ll see how it goes.”

The Seagulls will kick off the new chapter of their varsity program with a home game against Lake Region High School scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday.

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-535, Ext. 317.