The Naugatuck Valley League (NVL), the oldest high school sports league in Connecticut, has a storied history of athletic competition dating back to its initial formation in 1918. The first attempt to establish a high school football league in the Naugatuck Valley featured teams such as Naugatuck, Torrington, Crosby, Meriden, and Bridgeport. Bridgeport claimed the inaugural championship that year, followed by Meriden winning the title in 1919. However, the departure of Naugatuck and Bridgeport led to the league’s dissolution after just two seasons. Efforts to revive the league gained momentum in 1927, spearheaded by Jimmy Lee, the athletic director at
Wilby High School. Lee envisioned a league that would include schools like Naugatuck, Ansonia, Torrington, Wilby, Crosby, Harding, and New Haven Commercial, competing in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Despite his efforts, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) delayed its approval. The current iteration of the NVL was officially established in 1930, marking a significant milestone in Connecticut high school sports. The founding members were
Naugatuck High School,
Ansonia High School,
Torrington High School,
Crosby High School, Wilby High School,
Gilbert School,
Harding High School, and Bridgeport Central High School. The league’s first official event, a basketball game, took place on December 19, 1930, between Crosby and Ansonia. Football competition began in 1931. Over the decades, the NVL underwent numerous membership changes. In 1935, Torrington suspended its football program, leading to a temporary halt in league football activities. Football resumed in 1939 with Torrington and Ansonia reinstating their programs. During World War II, Harding High School left the league due to travel difficulties, and Leavenworth High School of Waterbury (later renamed
Kennedy High School) joined as a replacement. The mid-20th century saw gradual expansions, including the addition of
Watertown High School, Sacred Heart, and
Holy Cross High School. In the 1990s, the NVL grew further with the inclusion of Wolcott. During the winter of 2009, the existing 12 member schools of the NVL voted in favor of admitting two new schools into the league: Derby High School, moving over from the SCC (Southern Connecticut Conference), and
St. Paul Catholic High School of
Bristol, which would have been forced to play independently upon the disbanding of the Northwest Conference. Both schools began league play in the fall of 2010. In 2013,
Oxford High School was approved to join the league. In 2015, the newly formed
Waterbury Career Academy joined the NVL, bringing it to a membership of 16 schools. In February 2021, Sacred Heart High School announced that it would cease operations following the 2020-21 academic year, and thus left the league. The league currently sits at 15 teams. == Divisions ==