Wareham High athletics leaving South Coast Conference for Mayflower Athletic Conference
One of the league’s original members dating back to the 1980s, Wareham High just completed its final year in the South Coast Conference.
All of the Vikings’ sports programs — with the exception of boys basketball — have moved to the Mayflower Athletic Conference Comprehensive Division.
“We felt moving to the Mayflower League was more compatible with most of our sports,” said Wareham athletic director Ed Roderigues. “The SCC has outgrown us. Boys basketball can compete with anybody, but in general, we’re not strong enough. This conference is more compatible.”
Of Wareham’s 15 varsity teams, only two — boys basketball and girls tennis — had winning records in the 2022-23 school year. Football and both boys and girls soccer teams had already started playing an independent schedule outside of the SCC.
“For the most part, we were having a hard time competing in the South Coast Conference,” Rodrigues said. “Now we’ll play teams that are similar to us and we’ll play several vocational schools. We felt it was the right decision.”
Winning the South Coast Conference Blue Championship this past winter was extra special for the 2023 Div. 4 state champion boys basketball team since it will now play an independent schedule.
“It’s a bittersweet type of thing,” said Wareham head coach Steve Faniel. “We’re going to miss those rivalries and battles. We’ll continue to play some of those (SCC) teams but not for a conference title.
“We finished the way we wanted to. We talked about how we can't leave this league and not win it the last time we’re in it. It would have been a shame if we had not finished as league champs because we’ve been so dominant in the league. That’s a testament to Kevin and Jim Brogioli. They had such a dominant run and we carried on the Wareham tradition.”
Ajay Lopes, the 2022-23 South Coast Conference MVP for boys basketball, is excited for his senior season.
“I think it’s better for us basketball-wise because we get to pick who we want (to play),” Lopes said. “It will make us better for the playoffs.”
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Wareham High sports moving from South Coast Conference to Mayflower
