Southern Worcester County League
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The Southern Worcester County League (SWCL) was a high school athletic conference in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. The league was formed circa 1923[1] and during its final year consisted of twelve public high schools in the southern part of Worcester County, Massachusetts. The league would fold in 2025 after merging with the Central Massachusetts Conference, Colonial Athletic League, Dual Valley Conference, and the Inter-High League, to form the Central Massachusetts Athletic Conference.[2]
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Early members of the league included Bartlett,[3] Blackstone[4] (which became Blackstone-Millville Regional in the sixties), Grafton,[5] Holden[6] (which became Wachusett Regional in 1954[7]), Mary E. Wells[8] (which would become Southbridge High in the sixties), Millbury,[1] Northbridge,[9] Oxford,[6] Shrewsbury,[3] Spencer[10] (which would soon become David Prouty), Uxbridge,[1] and Warren[10] (which would become Quaboag Regional forty years later).
In 1931, Ware High School left the Twin State Conference to join the SWCL for "[a] circuit more beneficial to them"[6] However, their stint in the league was short lived, as they had joined the new Valley Wheel League only a few years later.[11] By the 1960's, the landscape of the league had changed drastically. Shrewsbury and Wachusett, having outgrown the other schools had left for the Central Mass League.[12] Blackstone-Millville left in 1965 to help form the Tri-Valley League.[13] Charlton (which became Shepherd Hill Regional not long after),[14] Leicester, Westborough, and West Boylston had now joined, proving to be great fits due to their size and location.[12] In 1967, longtime member Warren left to join the newly formed Quaboag League,[15] and Charlton followed a year later.[16]
A new league was formed out of the SWCL circa 1970 called the Border Conference, the name coming from the fact that the schools in the conference were on or near the Connecticut border. The schools a part of this new league were Auburn, Bartlett, David Prouty, and Southbridge.[17] Westborough returned to the Midland League in 1974, now that the league had re-formed.[18] David Prouty didn't stay in the Border Conference long, and was back in the SWCL by 1978.[19] After West Boylston left in 1992, the SWCL grabbed Auburn from the Border Conference. Thus began the beginning of the end for the Border Conference, now that charter member Auburn was returning to the SWCL for the 1993 season.[20] In 1997, the rest of the conference was absorbed by the SWCL, giving them schools Bartlett, Shepherd Hill, Southbridge, Tantasqua, and Quaboag. North Brookfield was the only member of the Border Conference not to join the SWCL, instead going to the Dual Valley Conference.[21]
Finally in 2013, Shepherd Hill once again left the league, this time going to the Midland Wachusett League, looking for better competition as they had outgrown their fellow members.[22] This would be the last change in lineup before the conference ended in 2025.