Bromfield students seeking to play high school football will have to find another team to join instead of playing with the Littleton-Bromfield Tigers, thanks to a decision made in July by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s District E oversight board.
Littleton and Bromfield football players have joined forces for about the last 10 years to form a co-op squad that has done “very well,” according to Bromfield Athletic Director Pam Alexander.
Paul Wetzel, a spokesperson for the MIAA, told the Press last week that cooperative teams such as the Tigers have to reapply to the league’s district committee every two years for approval. District committees, he said, are made up of people chosen from district schools, mainly principals and athletic directors. One consideration MIAA officials take into account in reviewing applications from co-op teams, said Wetzel, is whether any member school has enough players of its own to form a team without the benefit of a co-op. In July the District E board determined that Littleton had enough players for its own team, and denied the co-op’s renewal application. Wetzel said that Mike Lynn, athletic director at Littleton High School, appealed the decision, but the appeal was denied in September.
—Mike Lynn,
Littleton High school athletic director
Lynn said, “This caused quite an uproar at a lot of levels.”
He said that last winter the league unanimously supported continuing the Littleton-Bromfield co-op, but added, “There is a movement in the league to look at co-ops with more scrutiny.”
Lynn told the Press there are currently two Bromfield students on the Littleton-Bromfield football team, and that the recent ruling affected only one player, a freshman. He said he had lobbied for a one-year closure to allow that student to play, but his request was denied.
Wetzel said that the July ruling would allow Bromfield players from last year’s team to continue with the squad until graduation, but no new members from Bromfield would be allowed on the team. He added that new Bromfield players wishing to join a football team could form their own or find another team in the area to partner with.
Lynn said his understanding is that, according to the league, the purpose of a co-op team is to save a standing program at a host school—not to extend participation to students from a guest school. When the Littleton-Bromfield co-op started, participation in the Littleton football squad had fallen so low the school was in danger of losing its team. With the help of Bromfield players, the team played to a 9–3 record last year, and stands at 7–1 at present.
“Over the years we couldn’t have built a football team without the Harvard kids,” said Lynn. This year, he added, 16 players will graduate, and he’s not sure what this will mean for the future of the team.
Alexander said she’s aware of five eighth-graders and one ninth-grader who may be interested in playing on the gridiron next year. Ayer High School has been approached about forming a co-op team, she said, because “this year they barely had enough for a team.”
Negotiations with Ayer will continue over the next few months, Alexander said, adding that “a lot goes into forming co-ops.” New co-ops must apply to the district six months before the start of a season, she said, putting the application deadline somewhere in the late winter to early spring.
In a cooperative team arrangement, said Alexander, one team acts as the host team—in an Ayer-Harvard arrangement it would be Ayer. The Harvard school district would not have to provide any funding, she said. The only requirements of Harvard players would be that they be eligible academically, pay a user fee, and provide the appropriate medical records.
Wetzel said that the league hasn’t received any complaints about the new arrangement, but noted that if parents wanted to express concerns they could contact the district chairman, Louis Macedo, of Hudson High School, at 978-567-6100.
