Lynn English athletic director Gary Molea told the Lynn Journal that the Northeastern Conference will end its relationship with the Cape Ann League in football following the 2012 season and return to an NEC exclusive schedule in the fall of 2013, with the NEC divisions to be determined at a later time.
“There was a unanimous vote and our affiliation with the Cape Ann League is done,” said Molea. “We’re going to back to the NEC. We just haven’t decided how we’re going to do it yet.”
The English football team, who won the NEC/Cape Ann Tier 1 title last fall before falling to eventual Super Bowl champion Everett in the playoffs, competed in a division with NEC schools Classical, Salem, and Revere, and Cape Ann schools Masconomet and North Andover. North Andover has announced that it is leaving the Cape Ann League to rejoin the Merrimack Valley Conference.
“We will be playing Masconomet this fall and that will be it for games versus Cape Ann League schools,” said Molea. “I thought the arrangement worked for some of our smaller schools but not necessarily for our school.”
Molea expects that the NEC will be divided into two divisions (North and South) like it is in other sports. That would mean that each school will play It will be interesting to see whether the NEC athletic directors placed its football teams are based on enrollment or power.
The NEC athletic directors will be meeting Thursday to discuss the realignment of the league in all other sports.