Woodland’s Julia Accetura (26), second from left, is congratulated by teammates after scoring during their NVL tournament game against Seymour Saturday at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury.
Jim Shannon Republican-American
By JOE PALLADINO
Republican-American
Don’t get excited, this is still a ways off, but there are changes coming to the NVL divisions that we know and love.
Quick quiz: Woodland High plays in which division of the Naugatuck Valley League? You mean you don’t know? How about St. Paul? Seriously, after all this time?
Don’t feel bad. A great many NVL head coaches have no idea what division they play in. Some schools play in different divisions in different sports. It can be confusing. You will be glad to know that change is coming.
Let’s start with girls soccer: First, nothing changes for the coming season. In the fall season of 2017, the NVL girls will still play in three divisions of four teams each. Ah, but in 2018 those divisions will be ripped up and made anew.
The girls will be collapsed from three divisions down to two. Here is the new lineup as approved by NVL athletic directors:
Division A: Ansonia, Derby, Holy Cross, Oxford, Seymour, Woodland.
Division B: Naugatuck, Sacred Heart, St. Paul, Watertown, Wolcott, Torrington.
There’s no word on what the divisions will be named.
All of this assumes — safely, I think — that we will never in our lifetimes see girls soccer teams formed in the Waterbury public schools. A few NVL coaches are not thrilled with the plan, and how the divisions and schedules are arranged. There could be more discussion, but the two-division idea is solid.
As explained to me, teams play divisional opponents twice, with four crossover games based on a power schedule. That means, for example, Derby and Ansonia would not play Watertown, based on recent results. Teams can still schedule two out-of-league matches.
Boys soccer will stay the same, except for one switch. This other change is a big one and an interesting one: Starting in the 2018-19 school year, Woodland and St. Paul will swap divisions in all sports.
Huge.
Of course, you are all aware that St. Paul is currently in the Copper Division, and Woodland is in the Iron. It will stay that way in 2017-18. Why? Because the league is in a two-year schedule mode, which is used to determine the present power schedule structure. However, after the spring games of 2018, the schedules will change and so will the divisions.
There are obvious benefits. Woodland will dearly love being in the Copper with the other Valley schools Seymour, Ansonia, Oxford, and Derby. St. Paul will be matched with natural Iron rivals like Wolcott and Torrington.
Originally, the league’s pooh-bahs thought St. Paul was a better fit playing against the smaller schools in the Copper, such as Derby and Ansonia. But that doesn’t appear to be much of a factor.
Change is good when it makes sense, and in this case, sense has been made.
Send comments to jpalladino@rep-am.com, and follow on Twitter @RAOffTheRecord.