The Colonial Athletic League is a high school athletic conference located in district 2 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 high school, public and private high school, private high schools in the U.S. state of Mass ...

. The league was formed in 1976 by a handful of

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

s in

central Massachusetts Central Massachusetts is the geographically central region of Massachusetts. Though definitions vary, most include all of Worcester County and the northwest corner of Middlesex County. Worcester, the largest city in the area, and the seat of Wor ...

, and has since grown to nine vocational and

charter schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

across the

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

and Middlesex Counties.

History

The Colonial was formed in 1976 by schools Assabet Valley, Bay Path, Keefe Tech, Monty Tech, and Nashoba Valley. The creation of the conference was a way for Vocational Schools in Central Massachusetts to play each other in their own league. In 1977, the league accepted their first new member in Worcester Tech (then Worcester Voke) who was already member of the

Inter-High League The Inter-High League (also known as The Worcester Inter-High League or Worcester League) was a High School athletic conference in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. The league was made up of eight public high schools and one vo ...

. They stayed a part of the Inter-High while in the Colonial therefore allowing them to compete for two league titles. They did this up until at least 2011, where they became full members of the Colonial. In 1979, Tri-County RVT joined having been founded only two years prior. It was a short stint, however, and in 1984, Tri-County departed for the Mayflower League "to promote their athletics". By 1985, the predominantly female Fanning Trade School joined the league, competing only in women's sports. A lot of controversy followed some of the teams who were required by MIAA to allow the few boys who wanted to play sports to play on girls' teams. Fanning Trade only stuck around until the 1990-91 school year, as they would merge with Worcester Tech in the following year. New faces joined in the early 90's, those being

Minuteman Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...

(who would straddle both the Colonial and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

leagues for around a decade, before becoming a full time Commonwealth member), and the first non-vocational school,

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. Murdock would end up leaving for the more prestigious Mid-Wach around 1995 to join other public schools. During the same time, Nashoba Valley Tech also left, heading to the Commonwealth Conference. Replacing them was Blackstone Valley Tech, who had been a part of the Dual Valley Conference since its inception. During the 2000-01 school year, Hudson Catholic left the Catholic Suburban League for the Colonial; this was due to certain schools dominating the league and travel time between schools being too great. They would stay a part of the conference until they closed in 2009. As the 2010s rolled around, Charter Schools began joining the league. Parker Charter was the first, around 2010, and

Abby Kelley Foster Abby Kelley Foster (January 15, 1811 – January 14, 1887) was an American abolitionist and radical social reformer active from the 1830s to 1870s. She became a fundraiser, lecturer and committee organizer for the influential American Anti-Sl ...

and

AMSA , better known by his alias , is a Japanese professional '' Super Smash Bros. Melee'' player. He is known for being the only top 10 player to play Yoshi. In 2022, he was ranked the second best player in the world after winning major tournaments A ...

would jump from the Worcester County Athletic Conference in 2015. The league has since gone under no changes.

Member schools

Former members

State championships

List of state championships won by teams while a part of the league

Football

Source: ''Note: From 1972 to 2012, football state championships were separated by region, so there would be multiple champions from each division. From 1972 to 1977 and from 1997 to 2008, it was split between Eastern Mass and Central/Western Mass and there would be two champions in each division. From 1978 to 1996 and from 2009 to 2012 Central and Western Mass split so there would be three champions in each division. In 2013 everything was combined and therefore only allowed one state champion per division.'' * Assabet - 1983 D3 ''Central''; 2008 D3A ''Central/Western'' * Bay Path - 2000, 2001 D3A ''Central/Western''; 2011 D6 ''Central'' * Blackstone Valley - 2007 D3A ''Central/Western''; 2012 D6 ''Central''; 2018 D7

Cross country

Source:

Boys

* Parker Charter - 2017 D2; 2021, 2023 D3

Fall swimming

Source:

Boys

* Advanced Math and Science - 2017 D2

Basketball

Source:

Boys

* Worcester Tech - 2019 D4

Softball

Source: * Assabet - 2013 D3

Tennis

Source:https://www.miaa.net/sites/default/files/2024-05/miaa-state-champions-tennis.pdf

Girls

* Advanced Math and Science - 2021 D3

External links

School websites

Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School

Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School

Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School

Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School

Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School

Keefe Technical High School

Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical High School

Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School

Worcester Technical High School

References

{{Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association leagues Sports leagues established in 1976