Thayer Academy competes in the ISL, which boarding schools have dominated lately. (Chris Bernstein/Thayer Academy
Editor's note: This story appears in the August 2019 edition of New England Soccer Journal as the cover feature.
A scan through the NEPSAC’s boys soccer championship archives reveals a deeper trend about the prep school space: Boarding schools have a structural advantage when tournament season arrives.
The records — which stretch back a decade online — show that 2012 was the sole time a championship trophy went to a day school in Class A, B or C. That’s when Rivers and Roxbury Latin, two Independent School League programs, finished as co-champions in Class B. The pattern even extends to Class D, where Rocky Hill, on the coast of East Greenwich, R.I., was the last day school to win a title.
