The Trojan Dynasty

You probably haven't won more than half of the pickup basketball games you've played in. You definitely haven't won more than half of the fantasy cricket leagues you've been in. Using that logic, it's safe to assume that unless you're Red Auerbach's great-nephew, you've never seen a dynasty up close. But there's one closer than you think. In the tiny town of Harvard, home to the Bromfield boys' soccer team.

The term "dynasty" being used to describe a high school team usually makes me want to do this to the describer. It's just silly. It's high school, four years and see ya later. There are no drafts or free-agent signings or organizational philosophies. Just 15-18-year-old kids playing a sport.

At Bromfield, though, it's been consistent. Consistently dominant. Seventeen-out-of-29 CMass championships, multiple CMass titles in each decade from the '80s through Sunday afternoon.

Last year's state championship team was stacked with senior talent. This fall, other quality teams were getting that "championship feeling," perhaps thinking the Trojans were down a bit, or "rebuilding" (another word that should not be spoken in relation to high school sports).

Didn't happen.

The reasons for the Bromfield Dynasty are as numerous as the blue and white soccer banners that hang in their small gymnasium.

The first is talent, obviously, which is as much nature as it is the nurturing the players get from a very competitive youth program.

The most obvious is coaching. Bromfield coach Tom Hill has been in the game for a long time, coaching the same way in the same place. His style certainly wouldn't appeal to Dr. Phil. He sometimes even raises his voice to players when they aren't following directions or playing to their potential. That's a novel concept. Credit here should also go the decades of parents who have trusted Hill and not started a petition or gone running to the school board because a coach "was a meanie" to their kids. The same parents who pretend to subscribe to the sports is an extension of the classroom belief, apparently believe that their kids' future bosses will coddle them when they fail to be accountable for their actions.

The dynasty is even more impressive when you consider that Bromfield, on a yearly basis, houses about 200 boys in grades 9-12. (See for yourself here). And it isn't like the school's standout athletes all rush to the soccer team every fall. Keep in mind that Bromfield has a solid cross-country team and is part of the Littleton football team.

While banners, championship and scores of players moving on to play in college are the factual evidence, the anecdotal evidence is more impressive. Many teams talk about, but few are about it when it comes to "playing anyone, anywhere." The Trojans do, annually pitting themselves against D1 and D2 opponents to test their mettle before the postseason. Don't be surprised if it gets harder and harder for Bromfield to fill out a schedule in the future. They have proven to be the Beast of D3, and any school with a larger enrollment is in a no-win situation when Bromfield comes asking for a match. Beat a D3 school and "you were supposed to," lose and face the ire of chatroom analysts and coaches.

That's our take and, believes us, we tried and tried to think of another program that even comes close in any sport. Try for yourselves. We enjoy friendly arguments, but the list of teams that have won more than half of the possible CMass championships in the last three decades is fairly short.