Page 8 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, August 14, 2026 Fall 2026 preseason is right around the corner for Malden High Athletics In a first for fall, MIAA institutes new policy: All Fall Sports will now start on same date: August 24 By Steve Freker T here is still a good-sized piece of summer left on the calendar — well over a month, if you want to do some quick calculation. But a lot of districts in the Commonwealth of Mass. — including Malden Public Schools (MPS) — have made a practice of starting full classes in August. Gone for quite some time are the days when the first day after Labor Day was the “Red Letter Day” when “Back to School” was trumpeted out for all. Malden students will be heading back to classes on Wednesday, August 26, along with a handful of other communities. That’s not “new” news. What IS new this year is a vote by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s (MIAA) Board of Directors that all sports will begin their preseasons on the very same date. This year it will be Monday, August 24. This is an abrupt change from the many years calendar, which put the official start of football high school preseason about a full week ahead of all other sports. Golf was put in the “early” category as well. No more. Way back in November 2025, the MIAA Board voted unanimously, 21-0, to make that change. That means football and golf will start the same day as all the other fall sports: Soccer (boys and girls), Cross Country (boys and girls), field hockey (girls or coed), Girls Volleyball, on Monday, August 24. Fall Cheerleading begins on Wednesday, August 26. Malden High football kicks off the full preseason slate on August 24 with conditioning workouts and full-fledged practice with helmets and pads starting shortly after that. All of those sessions are at 3:00 p.m. at Macdonald Stadium, 15 Pearl St., home of Golden Tornado football. Head Coach Witche Exilhomme, himself a former Malden High standout, will welcome his preseason prospects for the 5th time, since he took over the reins in 2021. “We are expecting a solid season, a lot of players have been working hard, preparing in the offseason,” Coach Exilhomme said. Top returnees include junior record-setting running back Jayden McGuffie — who is already Malden High School’s all-time career rusher — senior quarterback Josh Dionne and junior 6-5, 335 lb. two-way lineman Noah Granderson. Boys’ and girls’ soccer draw the most candidates yearly and both also start up on Monday, August 24. Head Coach Jeremiah Smith’s boys soccer begins at 3:00 p.m. at Pine Banks Park; Head Coach Rick Caceda’s girls soccer begin their preseason at Ferryway School Park at 3:30 p.m. Girls volleyball begins with tryouts on Monday, August 24 at Malden High School’s Finn Gym with JV tryouts at 3:00 p.m. and Varsity tryouts at 5:00 p.m. Field Hockey starts up Monday, August 24 at 3:00 p.m. at Pine Banks Park (Baseball Field). Cross Country for boys and girls teams is beginning on Monday, August 24 at the Pine Banks Park course. Fall Cheerleading begins at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 26 in the Malden High practice room. Coed Golf tryouts are on Monday, August 24 at 10:30 a.m. at Richard’s Driving Range in Middleton. *** All players intending to try out and attend preseason activities must be registered and cleared on Finalforms.com. Any questions and for additional information contact the Malden High School Athletic Office at 781-397-6007. “We are anticipating another big turnout for our Fall Sports programs,” said Malden Public Schools Director of Athletics Charlie Conefrey. “Traditionally, it is one of our biggest seasons, player number-wise.” “This year, we especially want to encourage our incoming 9th grade students to consider joining a sports team of their choice. Last season we found a spot for all incoming 9th graders who wanted to play, and we would like to do the same this season,” he added. *** Malden’s AD Conefrey also said Malden Public Schools was excited this season to kick off its first-ever Middle School Tackle Football Team for players entering the 7th and 8th Grades. The addition of the Middle School Football Team is especially timely considering the recent announcement that Malden Pop Warner Football — which previously fielded teams for 7th and 8th graders— was ceasing football operations. “We encourage Malden’s 7th and 8th graders to give Middle School Tackle Football a try. We are offering a year-round conditioning program and in-season academic monitoring and tutoring for players, the same as we offer our Varsity and Junior Varsity players.”
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