SMSA to leave NCCC in June

SMSA players and fans celebrate after winning the NCCC Tournament for the first time in March 2017.

Hartford-based Sports Medicine and Science Academy (SMSA) is leaving the North Central Connecticut Conference (NCCC) after the 2025 spring season, according to a published report in GameTimeCT.

SMSA will be joining the eight other Hartford schools in the Capital Region Athletic League, which will be renamed the Greater Hartford Conference beginning in September, according to GameTimeCT.

The departure of the Tigers will leave the NCCC with just 12 schools. SMSA joined the league in September 2011 and are the third Hartford-based school to leave the NCCC.

Classical Magnet and HMTCA (Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy) were once members of the NCCC but left in June 2020 and June 2022, respectively.

SMSA, Classical, HMTCA, Weaver, Hartford Public, Bulkeley, University High, Achievement First and Capital Prep will be the Hartford-based schools in the Greater Hartford Conference along with Parish Hill, Academy of Science and Innovation (New Britain), Academy of International Studies (Bloomfield), Academy of Computer Science and Engineering (Enfield) and the Academy of Aerospace and Engineering (Windsor).

Members of the NCCC in September 2025: Bolton, Canton, Coventry, East Granby, East Windsor, Ellington, Granby, Somers, Stafford, Suffield, Rockville and Windsor Locks.

Stafford, Ellington, East Windsor and Suffield are the four remaining charter members of the NCCC that began play in September 1963, according to stories in the Hartford Courant. South Windsor was also a charter member of the NCCC.