By Michael Letendre
The pandemic has caused the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) to mix up its four divisions as the ruling scholastic body in the state has done its best to eliminate teams traveling all over the state for games and competition.
And the slate of teams that the Bristol public schools will be facing this winter has a bit of an old Central Connecticut Conference Southern feel to it.
Just like in the fall, Farmington, Avon, New Britain, and Southington help make up CCC Region B to go along with usual CCC South, Patriot division programs Plainville, Lewis Mills, Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern.
It’s a strange roster of teams and for the first time since 1959-60, at least in terms of boys basketball, the locals from Bristol won’t be competing against the schools in Meriden: Maloney and Platt.
But for over twenty years, New Britain and Southington were always CCC South opponents for Bristol in most scholastic sports, starting in 1984 – replacing the old Colonial Conference which included the likes of Wolcott and Pulaski in New Britain before it closed.
That was until the New Britain football situation as that school, along with Southington, moved on to play programs of equal size in another CCC league.
In terms of boys and girls basketball in 2021, here is how the four CCC divisions are divided up:
Region A Region B Region C Region D
Enfield New Britain Glastonbury Berlin
Windsor Farmington RHAM Middletown
Bloomfield Lewis Mills EO Smith Maloney
Hartford Public Avon Tolland Platt
Northwest Plainville East Catholic Newington
Simsbury Bristol Central Manchester Wethersfield
Conard Bristol Eastern East Hartford Rocky Hill
Hall Southington South Windsor Bulkeley
The CIAC, at the very least, deserves credit for making the divisions as competitive as possible with geographical restrictions in mind.
Avon is the furthest school from Bristol Central and depending on the route taken, it’s less than a 15-miletrip.
In the end, those divisional changes should work out well for everyone.
If makes sense to put Newington, Rocky Hill, and Wethersfield together with the Berlin turnpike and Interstate 91 a short drive to travel to Maloney and Platt in the Region D grouping.
It still may be a bit of a drive for South Windsor to arrive at RHAM in Hebron for Region C action but some of those schools on the outer rim of CCC territory have always seen that trip a bit of a haul for several teams.
The trip between South Windsor and RHAM could take upwards of 25 miles.
There’s a little Connecticut River crossing in the Region A line-up and a trip from Enfield to Conard high school in West Hartford is about 23 miles.
But Bristol is lucky to be in Region B, taking on several local programs – allowing every team a competitive chance on the hardwood.
And in terms of boys swimming, the line-up is a bit different:
Region A Region B Region C Region D
Hartford East Hartford Berlin Bristol (3 schools)
Enfield East Catholic Hall Lewis Mills
Bulkeley Manchester/RHAM Conard Plainville
Windsor Glastonbury Newington Southington
NWC Rocky Hill Wethersfield Platt/Maloney
Simsbury EO Smith/Tolland Classical Middletown
Granby South Windsor Avon
Suffield Farmington
Bristol’s division in Region D isn’t unlike its usual slate of meets but, unlike hoop, the Meriden co-op is still on the schedule.
