After eighty years of athletics, one would think the NVL would have made up its mind, however that assumption does not seem to be very accurate.
In the fall of 2014, the Naugatuck Valley League will undergo a drastic change. And with the current 2013 fall season coming to a wrap, it is exciting and nerve-racking thinking about how different the league will be a year from now.
The decision to add the Oxford Wolverines to the NVL league of now fourteen- soon to be fifteen schools, has caused quite the uproar in the valley. As of now, the league is split up into two divisions- copper and brass.
As it is right now, the divisions consist of seven schools each:
Brass: Ansonia, Derby, Seymour, St. Paul, Watertown, Wolcott, and Woodland
Copper: Holy Cross, Crosby, Kennedy, Naugatuck, Sacred Heart, Torrington, and Wilby.
However, for the start of the 2014 fall season, this will be the new NVL:
Division “A”: Ansonia, Seymour, Derby, St. Paul, and Oxford
Division “B”: Holy Cross, Wilby, Kennedy, Sacred Heart, and Crosby
Division “C”: Watertown, Wolcott, Torrington, Naugatuck, and Woodland
While schools have been placed into divisions, these new divisions do not have names yet. The reason for this is because this change has caused many issues and the names are something that still needs to be worked out before the year begins.
Names for these new divisions have been such a problem because teams will be playing the other four teams in their division twice, then all other division schools once, as well as two out-of league games. This three-division league is only set up for the following sports, however; baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, boy’s soccer, football, cross country, and both indoor and outdoor track. It does not work for; tennis, swimming, girl’s soccer, and golf.
This is not the only issue though, another problem has arisen because not all of the schools in the same divisions have all of the same sports. Therefore, schools will have to compete with different divisions when it comes to those sports. The divisions cannot be named yet, and may never have names because one school cannot say they won the “A” division in girls soccer, the “B” division in swimming, and the “C” division in golf.
This is not the only issue that the NVL board will be having to deal with in the coming months. There has been controversy in the past years over whether or not football should have an NVL Championship game. No matter what the position on that issue stands in 2013, 2014 will be bringing some changes.
It is said that there will be no championship game. Instead, there will be championships based on each division until a better plan, or no plan at all is formed to solve this issue that effects so many.
For the senior class of 2014, athletes do not have to worry about these league changes, whether the outcome is positive or negative. Juniors can either hit the jackpot or feel rather disappointed as their senior year will be drastically different from what they have known. Luckily sophomores will get a chance to adjust and get a little taste of the old and the new. And incoming freshmen, the class of 2018, will be stepping into a whole new ball field.
Whether changes are good or bad, the Naugatuck Valley League will go on and will most likely continue to undergo changes, just as it has for the past eighty years.
