- Merrimack Valley Conference
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The Merrimack Valley Conference (or MVC) is a high school sports league located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is named after the Merrimack River Valley where all of the primary league schools are located. The league members are also members of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (aka: The MIAA). The MVC evolved out of the old Lowell Suburban League, which sponsored football, boys basketball and girls basketball, and the Merrimack Valley Suburban League which was a baseball only league. The Suburban Leagues were formed in the 1930s and different school participated in different sports. In 1955, the Suburban Leagues reformed in to the more organized Lowell Suburban Conference which became the MVC by the mid 1960s.
Organization
The league sponsors several different sports for both boys and girls, which include, but is not limited to, football (boys only); soccer; field hockey (girls only); volleyball; ice hockey, basketball, wrestling, ice hockey, golf, baseball, softball, lacrosse, cross country and track & field.
The league is made up of 10 primary schools from towns in both Middlesex and Essex County that are located along or near the Merrimack River. They compete in all sponsored sports plus there are a few associate members whose primary league does not sponsor a sport that the MVC does. This page will focus on the primary league schools, which are: Andover, Billerica, Central Catholic (Lawrence), Chelmsford, Dracut, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen and Tewksbury. The Notre Dame Academy (Tyngsboro) is a primary member of the league in girls sports only.
In most sponsored sports, the MVC is split into two divisions. The divisions are named differently by sport with some referenced as Division One and Division Two while others are referenced as Large School and Small School. In boys ice hockey, the MVC is merged with the Dual County League to form one large super league split into three divisions. The line up of the divisions differ from sport to sport. The strength of a school's program determines which division their teams compete.
Football was one sport where the MVC did not split into two divisions, but starting with the 2009 season, the football league will split into large and small divisions.
Starting in the fall of 2012, North Andover will rejoin the league in all sports. They originally left the league after the 1970-71 school year. [1]
References
- Howe High School-Billerica Memorial High School Football History: http://www.hhsbmhsfootballhistory.com
- Methuen High Football: http://www.lowellnoreaster.com/rangers/
- Merrimack Valley Conference: http://mvcscores.com/
- Andover High School Website: http://www.aps1.net/ahs/
- Billerica Memorial High School Website: http://bmhs.billerica.k12.ma.us/
- Central Catholic High School Website: http://www.centralcatholic.net/
- Chelmsford High School Website: http://www.chelmsford.k12.ma.us/chs/home/index.htm
- Dracut Senior High School Website: http://www.dracut.k12.ma.us/DHS.htm
- Haverhill High School Website: http://www.haverhill-ps.org/hhs/default.html
- Lawrence High School Website: http://www.lawrence.k12.ma.us/
- Lowell High School Website: http://lhs.lowell.k12.ma.us/
- Methuen, Massachusetts Public Schools Website: http://www.methuen.k12.ma.us/mhs.shtml
- Notre Dame Academy Website: http://www.ndatyngsboro.org/
- Tewksbury Memorial High School Website: http://www.tewksbury.mec.edu/TMHS/index.html
Categories:- High school sports associations in Massachusetts
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