Conferencia del Valle de Merrimack

La Conferencia del Valle de Merrimack es una conferencia atlética de escuelas secundarias en el Distrito 4 de la Asociación Atlética Interescolar de Massachusetts (MIAA). La conferencia fue fundada alrededor de 1946 ^{[ 1 ]} y originalmente se conocía como el Circuito Suburbano de Lowell.

La conferencia está formada por diez escuelas secundarias públicas y una escuela católica dividida en dos secciones. Todas las escuelas se encuentran en pueblos o ciudades situadas a orillas del río Merrimack o en sus cercanías , de ahí su nombre.

Conferencia del Valle de Merrimack

7 km 4,3 millas

Andover

Monumento conmemorativo de Tewksbury

Methuen

Lawrence

Dracut

North Andover

Lowell

Haverhill

Chelmsford

Catolicismo central

Monumento conmemorativo de Billerica

   

Ubicación de las escuelas de la Conferencia del Valle de Merrimack. Las escuelas del Valle de Merrimack I están en rojo, las escuelas del Valle de Merrimack II están en azul.

La primera Conferencia del Valle de Merrimack fue una liga diferente creada a través de un "Football Jamboree" que incluyó a las escuelas Keith Academy, Manchester Central (NH) , St. Clement's , Nashua High School (NH) , Lowell High School , St. John's of Concord (NH), Lawrence High School y Cathedral High School of Manchester (NH) ^{[ 2 ] [ 3 ]} . Para 1950, la liga había dejado de existir.

En cuanto a la Lowell Suburban Loop, la liga estuvo compuesta por al menos ocho equipos durante los primeros veinte años de su existencia, incluyendo Ayer , Billerica , Burlington , Chelmsford , Dracut , Methuen , North Andover , Tewksbury y Wilmington . Andover se unió cuando la liga cambió su nombre a Merrimack Valley Conference en 1965 ^{[ 4 ]} . Ayer fue el primero en irse en 1956, ^{[ 5 ]} y la liga se mantuvo estable durante casi 15 años después de esto.

In the spring of 1971, North Andover opted to drop out of the conference to join the Cape Ann League. Austin Prep. and Central Catholic pushed for membership the same year and were rejected.^[6] They got their chance the following year when Andover and Burlington applied for Middlesex League membership. Only Burlington was taken, and Austin Prep. and Central Catholic filled Burlington's and North Andover's spots.^[5] Lawrence, Lowell, and Haverhill, which were trying to find a new home as the Essex County League started to fall apart, began flirting with joining the MVC in 1973 by joining for golf and tennis.^[7] Lawrence was the first to obtain full membership in 1974; the league was still hesitant to add Lowell and Haverhill^[8]

With a new decade in 1980 came a new setup for the league; a fourteen team super conference, with football having two divisions split between east and west. The east featured Andover, Austin Prep., Central Catholic, Lawrence, and Mathuen; along with newcomers Greater Lawrence Tech. and after a long wait, Haverhill. The west included Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Tewksbury, and Wilmington; and the other league newcomers Lowell and Greater Lowell Tech.^[9][10]

After a weak two seasons, Austin Prep. and Greater Lowell left the conference in 1982; the former to the Catholic Conference and the latter became an independent.^[11] Greater Lawrence tried to jump ships to the Commonwealth Athletic Conference in 1985 and was denied entry, leaving them independent.^[12]

The league remained stable from here for the better part of ten years, until Lawrence left to be independent in 1994.^[13] The following year, Wilmington left to the lower division Cape Ann League.^[14] Lawrence rejoined the league in 2009, the year the Merrimack Valley split into two divisions, large and small. The large schools were Andover, Billerica, Central Catholic, Chelmsford & Lowell; the small schools were Dracut, Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen, and Tewksbury.^[15] After 41 years in the Cape Ann League, North Andover returned to the Merrimack Valley in 2012, taking the league back to eleven members, which remains as of early 2026.^[16]

Source: ^[17]

Esta es una lista de campeonatos estatales de la MIAA ganados por escuelas mientras formaban parte de la Conferencia del Valle de Merrimack.