Naugatuck Valley League - Divisions

Divisions

There are two divisions in the NVL: the Brass and the Copper. These divisions were created by the member schools' athletic directors prior to the 2007-08 school year in order to create more competition within the league and enhance each sport's postseason tournament. The names "Brass" and "Copper" were chosen because of Waterbury's history of being centers of Brass and Copper production.

During the winter of 2009, the existing 12 member schools voted in favor of admitting two new schools into the league—Derby High School, moving over from the 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 will join league play starting in the fall of 2009. Due to the addition of the schools, the previous Brass and Copper Divisions were rearranged to ensure fair competition.

The realignment of the league resulted in two sets of divisions--one set for football and the other for all other sports. St. Paul Catholic (which fields a co-operative team with Lewis Mills High School and Goodwin Technical High School in football) was simply added to the pre-existing Copper football division, while Derby (which fields a co-op team with Emmett O'Brien Technical High School in football) was added to the old Brass.

In each of the other NVL sports, the divisions were more drastically realigned. Both St. Paul and Derby were added to the Brass, and Woodland moved from the Copper to the Brass. Crosby and Wilby both shifted from the Brass to the Copper, creating an essentially "city division," with the five Waterbury schools, along with Naugatuck and Torrington.