WOODBURY — When it comes to school spirit, you would expect students to be repping their school’s apparel — especially during rivalry weeks.

Leading up to Nonnewaug’s biggest night of the year – the home basketball doubleheader against Shepaug

– junior Connor Segers rocked the rival’s sweatshirt instead of his red and white.

“I’m pretty sure I wore this on red-out week,” said Segers, pointing to his white and navy Shepaug hockey co-op hoodie. “I almost wore this to the game against Shepaug.”

Segers and many other athletes wouldn’t be able to play their sports without the formation of co-ops. The Chiefs co-op in five sports: Nonnewaug football, Shepaug boys hockey, Hamden girls hockey, and Lakeview boys and girls lacrosse. 

Why Co-Op? 

Any athlete wants to play their sport, but not every school – especially small ones – can have all sports. Despite this, these schools have the option to form a co-op. 

According to the CIAC, a co-op request can be made “only when two or more schools are experiencing difficulty in obtaining the desired number of competitors to form a team” or if a school doesn’t have the appropriate facilities to host a team on its own.

For Nonnewaug’s former athletic director, Declan Curtin, the forming of co-ops are important for the Chiefs. 

“Co-ops are important when you want to be competitive and be in a league, and when your own school can’t survive on its own with the numbers,” says Curtin. “And it gives you a fair chance competitively amongst other teams. It allows schools and athletes to have an opportunity where they wouldn’t have it without a co-op.”

Like Curtin, Nonnewaug sophomore football player Cam Jones also believes that the Chiefs benefit from these co-op opportunities. 

“The benefits of a co-op is you get a lot more talent from different schools,” says Jones.  “Most others only have athletes from their own school, but this allows us to have a team. I don’t think we would have a football team if we weren’t a co-op because we are a smaller school, and even if we did we would be very bad.”

Football Transitions from Northwest United to Nonnewaug Co-op

As the final whistle blew on Thanksgiving eve, players looked around at what would be their last few memories of four seasons with the Northwest United football co-op. 

Even though they knew this was their last game, many questioned, is this the last of the co-op? The last time playing with each other? Was this the end? 

According to the CIAC,  “A school whose numbers exceed [the] maximum determined limit will be placed in a phase out for either one or two years.”  

This rule changed everything for the Workhorses, with their roster sizes exceeding the maximum number of players [64 in total] in some of the past four years. 

“In 2022, we had 68 [players],” says Nonnewaug principal Mykal Kuslis. “That’s four over. In 2023, we had 74, which was 10 over, and in 2024, we just finished at 66, so we were two over.”

Because of the Workhorses’ roster sizes, if the co-op had continued in the 2025 season, they would have been ineligible for the state tournament.

The Connecticut Technical Conference also told administrators that 2024 was the last season NWU would be allowed to play in the league.

“The other thing was the CTC, the league we were in, found out our numbers were too high,” says Curtin. “And they gave us one extra year to maintain the team that we had at that point, but we were all told basically that we had to find a new co-op that was underneath the numbers.”

Along with losing their league, the Workhorses’ lost one of four schools in the co-op (Nonnewaug, Shepaug, Lakeview and Wolcott Tech).

“Wolcott [Tech] numbers are actually pretty decent. and they pretty much put us over the top,” says Curtin. “And especially when the team is successful, more people want to join.  And they had the second most numbers of one school. So for us, that was a major reason why they were the team that was dropped. and the other reason is because we are partners with our Berkshire League schools, well, we do work a lot with Shepaug and Lakeview. And then in those situations, it’s best for you to continue that relationship with the schools that are in your league.”

With the creation of the new co-op came new head coach Scott Lynch. 

“Losing Wolcott Tech means that we are losing a lot of our good players,” says Jones. “A lot of people are going to have to step up to take their place, even more than usual because we also lost seniors. I think a lot of people are going to have to prove themselves this year in order for us to be successful. Another thing to think about is how we are losing our whole coaching staff.” 

Another change is the name for the new co-op. Instead of being the Northwest United Workhorses’, the team will be the Nonnewaug Chiefs. 

“We’re going to be the Nonnewaug Chiefs,” says Curtin. “We’re gonna be wearing red, white, and blue Chief uniforms.  I do like the idea of Chiefs because it’s inclusive for kids from other schools. We do see kids at our school, walk around with Lakeview lacrosse uniforms, and we also see kids wearing the Shepaug hockey uniforms. But we made a decision to try to be as inclusive as we could be.”

Lakeview Takes on Lacrosse Co-op

In sports, you make connections. Whether it’s with teammates, coaches, or with other teams, everyone makes them. For the Lakeview boys and girls lacrosse co-op teams, players have made connections from the start. 

“During middle school, a lot of us played Litchfield Hills Lacrosse,” says junior lacrosse player Laila Jones. “So it’s great to play with the same players that we’ve been playing with since middle school. It’s really nice to almost have the same co-op and have the friendships last.”

But rekindling old friendships aren’t the only connections lacrosse players have. 

“You get to meet kids from other schools,” says Segers, “and make connections that you wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for that sport.”  

But with a newer co-op comes challenges. 

“I think the harder thing about lacrosse is it’s a newer program,” says Segers. “Starting in, I think it was my freshman year, and then especially with the name change again, it’s kind of like we’ve had like two different identities and still a lot of people still think of it as a club team. We’re trying to work to make it a real varsity program that’s competitive in the state.”

Among the challenges in the co-op, one of them is players still working out kinks in the program. 

“Because lacrosse is still a new co-op, we are definitely still working things out,” says sophomore Jadyn Heron. “Practice times and places change every week. Like we have been practicing at Region 20’s middle school, which is where we practiced last year, but it’s a lot different. The co-op is through Lakeview, so it’s not Nonnewaug buses, it’s not Nonnewaug fields – it’s all Lakeview.”

Shepaug Hockey Co-op Stands the Test of Time

While most Nonnewaug co-ops are newer, there is one team that has been around for longer: the Shepaug Spartans hockey co-op. 

“It’s our team, too,” says Segers. “Some people in our school don’t realize that we are involved, but I like to show off that we are involved and we play a big part and a big role in that team.”

Being an older co-op, some of the struggles of a new team have gone away. 

“We have multiple group chats throughout the team with coaches and without,” says Segers, “so we communicate pretty well. But I think one of the challenges we face is everyone being at different schools, especially for off-ice practices. It’s tough to get there at the same time, and transportation becomes an issue, especially when you don’t have a senior from your school on the team that can drive underclassmen.” 

Pride in the Tribe, but Pride in the Co-ops, Too

At the end of the day, the opportunity to play outweighs the challenges. 

“I think it’s really important to me because I’m able to actually play the sport,” says Cam Jones. “In middle school, I looked forward to high school sports. So I think just being able to play it because of that is really important to me, and everybody else who wants to play.” 

Like Cam Jones, Shepaug hockey player Matt Molleur is in the co-op to be able to play a sport that he wouldn’t otherwise have in high school.

“I play hockey in the Shepaug co-op to play,” says Nonnewaug’s Molleur. “It’s a good group of kids and we represent our school too.” 

Despite playing under a different school’s name, many players like Heron still feel like they are representing the Chiefs. 

“It doesn’t feel different playing for a different team because I’m still playing my sport in a way,” says Heron. “I don’t really think of it as representing another school because it’s a co-op, I feel like I represent my school when I play.”

No matter which school they represent, the fact that Nonnewaug athletes get a chance to compete is what’s important to Curtin.

“I take pride in co-ops for athletes,” says Curtin. “They do give them an opportunity to play. Sometimes there are inconveniences that go with traveling to a further place and [struggles with] communication amongst various schools. But for me, at the end of the day, the opportunity to play is the most important part.”