Dedham High Moving Forward With Tri-Valley League Move

DEDHAM, MA —By this time next year, student-athletes at Dedham High School will be preparing for contests against schools like Norton, Dover-Sherborn, Westwood, and Bellingham, rather than traditional foes like Walpole, Milton, Weymouth, and Needham.

Athletic Director Steve Traister updated the school committee last week on the transition to the Tri-Valley League, telling the board that he recently had his first meeting with league officials. Entering the league as their 11th team, Traister told the school committee he expects a lot of competition in their new league.

“(The Tri-Valley League) has won more state titles than the Bay State Conference, they win them in Division 2 and 3, but we’ll be competing with schools our size every night and every day,” Traister said.

Now that Dedham will be facing schools of similar size, the Sullivan Rule, which says a team needs to have a .500 record against teams in their division, will not come into play.

“We’re not concerned about that, we’re more concerned about daily competition,” Traister said.

Superintendent Michael Welch said he recently attended a meeting with a few superintendents from the league. He said the other schools are thrilled with Dedham’s move.

“I’m absolutely excited that our students are going to be competing day and night in situations where it’s a level playing field and I think we’re going to have an absolutely outstanding experience,” Welch said.

Dedham High School starts Tri-Valley League play at the start of the 2017-18 school year.

Image: File photo