Six Schools League
The Six Schools League (SSL) is an association of six New England college-preparatory schools that compete in high school sports.
It was founded in 2015, and is loosely affiliated with the Eight Schools Association. The SSL is not a registered league under the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC), but each of its members is a NEPSAC member, and its members participate in NEPSAC post-season competitions.
| Founded | 2015 |
|---|---|
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Region | New England |
| Locations | |
 | |
Membership
| School | Location | Colors | Nickname | Founded | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phillips Exeter Academy | Exeter, NH | Big Red | 1781 | 1,079 | |
| Phillips Academy | Andover, MA | Big Blue | 1778 | 1,122 | |
| Deerfield Academy | Deerfield, MA | Big Green | 1797 | 650 | |
| Choate Rosemary Hall | Wallingford, CT | Wild Boars | 1890 | 865 | |
| Northfield Mount Hermon School | Gill, MA | Hoggers | 1879 | 655 | |
| St. Paul's School | Concord, NH | Pelicans Big Red | 1856 | 531 |
Development
Composition
In 2015, administrators at Andover, Choate, Deerfield, Exeter, and Northfield Mount Hermon established the Five Schools League. Proposals for such a league had been discussed since the 1990s. The stated purpose of the league was to chill aggressive athletic recruiting among member schools. St. Paul's joined the FSL in 2017 following a dispute over the bylaws of its previous conference, the Independent School League. Consequently, the FSL was renamed to the Six Schools League.
At the time the league was founded, the administrators had not yet finalized the mechanics of the league. Deerfield's athletic director said that "it's still rolling out, trying to be determined ... What we have to do this year is sort of get it up and running, get people knowing about it, and hopefully excited about it."
At present, a third of the SSL's members are simultaneously members of other high school athletic conferences that, unlike the SSL, are registered with the NEPSAC.
- St. Paul's is a member of the Lakes Region League. Although St. Paul's left the Independent School League (ISL) when it joined the SSL, it was the only New Hampshire school in ISL; by contrast, all but one of the Lakes Region League schools are in New Hampshire.
- Choate is a member of the Founders League. Choate is the only Connecticut-based member of the SSL, and all but one of the Founders League schools are in Connecticut. Choate and Deerfield were both members of the Founders League at the time they joined the SSL, but Deerfield (the only Massachusetts-based member of the Founders League) did not remain in the Founders League.
Relationship with the Eight Schools Association
Every member of the SSL is also a member of the Eight Schools Association (ESA), a group of boarding schools that meets to "explor[e] new research and trends in education" and to "consider together any issues and challenges common to the schools and their students and faculty." ESA members Hotchkiss and Lawrenceville are not part of the SSL.
St. Paul's and Choate both characterize their membership of the SSL as "compet[ition] within the Eight Schools Association," as opposed to membership in the SSL proper. Deerfield's athletics website also says that it is "a member of the Eight Schools Association" without mentioning the SSL.
See also
References
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