Cambridge Rindge Latin is moving closer to joining the Dual County League, a switch that could lead to the end of the Greater Boston League.
Cambridge is interested in joining the DCL and according to Westford principal Jim Antonelli, Cambridge school officials had a preliminary meeting with their counterparts from the DCL in mid-August. The next step is for Cambridge to meet with other GBL schools and ask for a release from the league. GBL athletic directors are scheduled to meet next week.
Though the process is complicated and can be time-consuming, the DCL wants Cambridge, and Cambridge wants the DCL, so what’s left are the details and the timetable. Both MIAA District A and District B Committees will have a say as will both the remaining GBL schools before a vote by the DCL. Normally there’s a two-year waiting period, but Cambridge officials are hoping the move can be made in time for the 2014-15 school year. Cambridge already competes in the DCL in boys’ volleyball.
“I feel very confident after a straw vote that the principals and athletic directors will welcome them [Cambridge] with open arms,” said Antonelli. “But we have to go thru a process and we need to be transparent in what we do.”
The next question is for the remaining four GBL schools. The Old Colony League has three schools as does the Big Three, so the GBL could remain a four-team league. But the Northeastern Conference seems like a more likely destination.
The GBL applied to join the Northeastern Conference late in 2012, but in the spring NEC principals voted no to the idea. But with many new principals at NEC schools and NEC athletic directors still open to the idea, the discussions have started again, including at Thursday’s meeting of NEC ADs according to Beverly athletic Director Jim Coffey. If the NEC ADs think the four GBL schools are a good fit, they’ll bring the proposal to the principals for another vote some time this fall.
Recently, change has been a constant for the GBL but it wasn’t always that way. Following the demise of the Suburban League in 1989-90, Waltham and Cambridge joined the GBL. The nine-team league continued that way from 1990 until 2005. In 2005, Revere joined the Northeastern Conference, followed by Peabody in 2007. In 2008, Arlington and Waltham left and the league was down to the current five teams — Everett, Malden, Medford, Cambridge, and Somerville — a setup that made scheduling difficult for the remaining athletic directors. The loss of Cambridge would make that job even more difficult.