Bay State Conference

The Bay State Conference (BSC) is an interscholastic high school athletic league located in Norfolk County and Middlesex County of Massachusetts. The Bay State Conference is named after the nickname of Massachusetts which is the Bay State. As of 2023-2024, 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 (MIAA) in District 7 (along with the Hockomock League and the Tri-Valley League in the same regions).

Bay State Conference

Conference	Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association
Division	MIAA Division I
No. of teams	10

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.^{[by whom?]} In most sports members are in MIAA division 1 and/or division 2 for MIAA tournaments depending on the sport. 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 are in the Carey division, while schools in towns/cities that are located on I-95, I-93, and/or Route 3 are in the Herget division. All members are within a 35 mile radius of each other with the furthest distance between schools being 34 miles with Framingham High School and Weymouth High School.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[1] 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 moving from the Herget division to the Carey division.

The Wellesley (Carey division member) and Needham (Herget division member) high school football 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 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).^[2][3]

Members

Bay State Conference

 

[Interactive fullscreen map + nearby articles]

Locations of Bay State Conference members, 2023-2024   Carey division member and   Herget division member

The 10 members of the Bay State conference consists of Brookline, Framingham, 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 Carey and Herget members play each other two games a year in inter-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 intra-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

School	Location	Colors	Mascot	Year founded	Enrollment	Division
Braintree High School	Braintree, MA	Blue & White	Wamps	1858	1,801	Herget
Brookline High School	Brookline, MA	Red & Blue	Warriors	1843	2,101	Carey
Framingham High School	Framingham, MA	Navy Blue & White	Flyers	1792	2,177	Carey
Milton High School	Milton, MA	Red & White	Wildcats	1909	1,070	Herget
Natick High School	Natick, MA	Red, Blue, & White	Redhawks	1954	1,732	Carey
Needham High School	Needham, MA	Navy Blue & Gold	Rockets	1898	1,718	Herget
Newton North High School	Newton, MA	Orange & Black	Tigers	1859	2,089	Carey
Walpole High School	Walpole, MA	Blue & Orange	Timberwolves	1870	1,172	Herget
Wellesley High School	Wellesley, MA	Red & Black	Raiders	1938	1,540	Carey
Weymouth High School	Weymouth, MA	Maroon & Gold	Wildcats	1854	1,900	Herget

References

1. "Dedham to join Tri-Valley League". ESPN.com. 2016-05-25. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
2. Cassell, Tommy. "Wellesley High resumes football rivalry with Needham in style with rout of Rockets 113 days after the two teams usually meet on Thanksgiving". Milford Daily News. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
3. . 2007-06-14. Archived from the original on 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2021-09-14.