By the 2013 high school football season, eight-man football may be making its way to Maine.

On Wednesday, the Maine Principal Association’s football committee decided to survey the 151 member schools of the association to see if there is an interest in having a division of the sport in Maine. The survey will be sent out to athletic directors in the coming weeks and the committee will reconvene to discuss the results early next year.

In the meantime, the directors will have to consider the merits of allowing eight-man football.

Regular 11-man football is currently played in Maine and around the country, including college and the National Football League. Eight-man football is very similar, with the exception that there are three fewer players on each side of the football. Typically on offense, two linemen ”“ usually the tackles ”“ are removed from the five-man line. Either a running back or wide receiver is also removed from the offensive line. Defensively, two linemen are also removed, as well as one linebacker or secondary player.

Field length and width can be reduced as well, to 80-by-40, from the traditional 100-yd by 53 1/3 yard fields of 11-man football.

Currently, 19 states use eight-man football at the high school level, including the football hotbeds of Alabama, California, Georgia and Tennessee.

MPA Assistant Executive Director Michael Burnham said the idea for eight-man football in Maine has been in talks for some time, and the original concept of the idea is to help schools with small enrollment numbers.

“We know that there are some programs that have struggled with some numbers,” Burnham said. “There have also been some community teams around the state that seem to have had some success with (eight-man football.) I think you couple all those things together, it came up, and the committee said, ”˜Let’s look at it.’”

The idea comes at an interesting time for the committee. One year ago, the group tabled discussions of going from three classes (A, B and C) to four (A, AA, B and C), deciding to revisit the idea after next season to collect more information from schools and coaches. If eight-man football were to exist in Maine, it could negate the possibility of a four-class system

The idea of eight-man football is more than likely geared toward schools in Aroostook County, which have smaller enrollment numbers and therefore not enough students to play 11-man football. Currently, there are 76 schools in the state that play 11-man.

However, even programs in York County have seen their share of struggles with size. Class C Sacopee Valley, which wrapped up its third year as a varsity program this season, has gone 0-24. Old Orchard Beach, a fellow Class C school, has four state championships on its resume: 1958, 1990 and 1993 in Class C and 1986 in Class D, which no longer exists for football. But numbers on the team have been relatively low in the past few years, and players have struggled with injuries. The Seagulls again suffered from injuries at the beginning of the 2011 season, but when the team was at full strength at the end of the season, the Gulls won three consecutive games, finishing the season at 3-5, just missing out on a spot in the Western Class C playoffs.

“That’s what the survey is going to tell (the committee),” Burnham said. “I think there are some Class C programs ”“ maybe in (York County) ”“ the committee is interested in hearing if there is an interest in eight-man.”

Wells Head Coach Tim Roche, who is a staunch supporter of a four-class system, said he couldn’t see either school going to eight-man football.

“In my mind, I just don’t see that many teams, south of Bangor, that’s primed to say ”˜Eight-man sounds great,’” Roche said.

“It’s contradiction itself,” Roche said. “We don’t have declining football programs. Your numbers might be declining, but you’re still adding teams. Some say it’s declining because of budgets, but it isn’t ”“ it’s actually grown. The eight-man football is great for Aroostook County and rural schools.

“My main concern, and I wholly support (football) for those kids up north, but I find it amazing that we can make a decision so quickly on eight-man football, but when we try to go to four classes of football, we have to study it for 18 years now.”

Burnham said the survey will be brief ”“ held to only four questions ”“ asking if schools support or are interested in eight-man football, and whether or not eight-man football is played in the school’s community.

“If we hear back that if there are only three schools that are interested, the committee is going to say, ”˜Okay, we researched it, we did the work, but there’s really no interest in it right now.”