The Bay State Conference, is an interscholastic high school athletic league located in the

Metro Boston Tab Communications Inc. (also called Tabloid Newspaper Publishers), based first in Newton, Massachusetts, United States, then in nearby Needham, was a weekly newspaper publisher in Greater Boston before being bought by Fidelity Investments in 199 ...

, Metrowest, and Southeastern Massachusetts ( South Shore) regions of the United States. The Bay State Conference is named after the nickname of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

which is the bay state. As of 2021-2022, the Bay State Conference consists of 10 member schools. All Bay State Conference member schools are public secondary schools and also members of the

Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) is an organization that sponsors activities in thirty-three sports, comprising 374 public and private high schools in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The MIAA is a member of the Na ...

(MIAA) in District 7 (along with the Hockomock League and the Tri-Valley League in the same regions). The Bay State Conference is known to be one of the most competitive conferences in the MIAA with some of the biggest high schools in the state of Massachusetts. In most sports members are in MIAA division 1 and/or division 2. The smallest member in the Bay State Conference is Milton High School at 1,070 students while the largest member is Framingham High School at 2,177 students. Members in towns/cities that are located on Route 9 and/or

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, ...

are in the Carey division, while schools in towns/cities that are located on

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadi ...

, I-93, and/or Route 3 are in the Herget division. In 2017 Carey division member Dedham High School left the Bay State Conference and joined the Tri-Valley League as the league's 11th member. Norwood High School another Carey division member followed suit and became the Tri-Valley League's 12th member a year later in 2018. In 2019 after the departure of Dedham and Norwood, the divisions were realigned with

Newton North High School Newton North High School, formerly Newton High School, is the larger and longer-established of two public high schools in Newton, Massachusetts, the other being Newton South High School. It is located in the village of Newtonville. The school ...

moving from the Herget division to the Carey division. The Wellesley (Carey division member) and Needham (Herget division member)

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

rivalry is the oldest public high school football rivalry in Massachusetts and third oldest high school football rivalry in the United States. Traditionally played on

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

morning, the Wellesley High School Raiders and Needham High School Rockets have meet each other 133 times as of 2021 with the first meeting dating back to Thanksgiving morning of 1882 at Morton Field in Wellesley (named West Needham at the time).

Members

The 10 members of the Bay State conference consists of Brookline,

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Bost ...

, Natick, Newton North and Wellesley in the Carey Division, along with Braintree, Milton, Needham, Walpole and Weymouth in the Herget division. Depending on the sport Carey and Herget division members will play each other once or twice a year. For example, in

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

Carey and Herget members play each other two games a year in division play (for example Natick (a Carey division member) will play Brookline, Framingham, Newton North, and Wellesley (the rest of the Carey division members) two games a year one game at home and one game away). Also in baseball Carey and Herget members play each-other one game (home or away) a year in inter-division play (for example Natick (a Carey division member) will play Needham, Walpole, Braintree, Milton, and Weymouth (the Herget division members) once a year either at home or away). Finally in baseball the inter-division home and away game alternates each year so for example Natick (a Carey division member) will play at Braintree (a Herget division member) in even number years and then Natick will play Braintree at Natick in odd number years.

Schools

References

{{Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association leagues Sports in Norfolk County, Massachusetts