Naugatuck Valley League

The Naugatuck Valley League (abbreviated NVL) is a 14-team athletic conference of high schools, located in the Naugatuck River Valley of Connecticut.

The NVL is a member of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC). It is the oldest high school athletic conference in Connecticut.^[1]

Divisions

There are two divisions in the NVL: the Brass and the Copper.^[2] These divisions were created by the member schools' athletic directors prior to the 2007-08 school year in order to create more competition within the league and enhance each sport's postseason tournament. The names "Brass" and "Copper" were chosen because of Waterbury's history of being centers of Brass and Copper production.

During the winter of 2009, the existing 12 member schools voted in favor of admitting two new schools into the league—Derby High School, moving over from the Southern Connecticut Conference, and St. Paul Catholic High School of Bristol, which would have been forced to play independently upon the disbanding of the Northwest Conference. Both schools will join league play starting in the fall of 2009. Due to the addition of the schools, the previous Brass and Copper Divisions were rearranged to ensure fair competition.

The realignment of the league resulted in two sets of divisions—one set for football and the other for all other sports. St. Paul Catholic (which fields a co-operative team with Lewis Mills High School and Goodwin Technical High School in football) was simply added to the pre-existing Copper football division, while Derby (which fields a co-op team with Emmett O'Brien Technical High School in football) was added to the old Brass.

In each of the other NVL sports, the divisions were more drastically realigned. Both St. Paul and Derby were added to the Brass, and Woodland moved from the Copper to the Brass. Crosby and Wilby both shifted from the Brass to the Copper, creating an essentially "city division," with the five Waterbury schools, along with Naugatuck and Torrington.

Oxford High Joins (2013)

On February 22, 2013, the Naugatuck Valley League approved Oxford High School into their conference from the SWC (South West Conference.) With the move, the format of two divisions (Brass and Copper,)there will be there will be three divisions, to be named soon. This is how it will play out, (starting in the 2014-15 year):

On November 22, 2013, the NVL announced that the Brass and Copper divisions will stay and the third division will be called the "Iron."

     Brass Division                              Copper Division                                  Iron Division
     
     Ansonia Chargers                              Crosby Bulldogs                                   Naugatuck Greyhounds
     Derby Red Raiders                             Holy Cross Crusaders                              Torrington Raiders
     Oxford Wolverines                             Kennedy Eagles                                    Watertown Indians
     St. Paul Falcons                              Sacred Heart Hearts                               Wolcott Eagles
     Seymour Wildcats                              Wilby Wildcats                                    Woodland Hawks

*Boys and Girls Basketball (20 games:) 2 vs. team in own division, 1 each vs. non-division teams, two non-league games.

NVL football divisions

State Titles

Baseball:

  Ansonia: 1974 (M), 1990 (S)
  Naugatuck: 1938, 1955 (L), 1963 (L), 1970 (L), 1971 (L), 1977 (L)
  Seymour: 1956 (M), 1962 (M), 1969 (M), 1992 (M), 2007 (M)
  Sacred Heart: 1997 (M)
  Torrington: 1975 (L)
  Watertown: 1956 (S), 1997 (L)

Boys Basketball:

  Ansonia: 1995 (L)
  Crosby: 1998 (L), 2005 (I), 2008 (LL)
  Holy Cross: 1988 (LL), 1995 (LL)
  Naugatuck: 1922 (A), 1930 (A), 1931 (A), 1942 (L)
  Sacred Heart: 1949 (M), 1967 (L), 1984 (M), 1997 (M)
  Torrington: 1925 (A), 1944 (L), 2006 (II)
  Wilby: 1923 (A), 1953 (L)

Girls Basketball:

  Ansonia: 1977 (L), 1978 (M)
  Holy Cross: 2007 (M)
  Seymour: 1993 (M), 1997 (L)

Boys Cross Country:

  Ansonia: 1981 (M)
  Sacred Heart: 1975 (S)

Football:

  Ansonia: 1976 (S), 1977 (S), 1979 (S), 1981 (S), 1982 (S), 1983 (S), 1984 (S), 1987 (S), 1988 (S), 1989 (S), 1994 (SS), 1995 (S), 2002 (S), 2003 (S), 2006 (S), 2007 (S),        2011 (S), 2012 (S)
  Holy Cross: 2006 (S), 2011 (M)
  Naugatuck: 1981 (L), 1993 (LL)
  Sacred Heart: 1990 (SS)
  Seymour: 1993 (SS),1998 (M) 2007 (SS)
  Watertown: 1986 (S)
  Woodland: 2004 (SS), 2005 (SS)

NVL divisions (other sports)

Sports

The NVL offers varsity sports in 3 seasons: fall, winter, and spring.

Footnotes

External links

• CIAC Website
• NVL Website