CHS football team working hard in the pre-season
The Chelsea High football team has been hard at work getting ready for their 2026 campaign.
“We have been working hard in our pre-season sessions and the team is really committed to improving every day. I’m excited to see how the group comes together this year,” said CHS head coach David Roque, who noted that he and his staff are still in the process of putting the final touches on the roster and selecting captains.
The Red Devils were scheduled to meet Lynn Tech in their first pre-season scrimmage this past Tuesday.
“Lynn Tech always is a very tough team to go up against,” said Roque. “Coach (James) Runner is always great to work with. They will help find our strong points and definitely our weaknesses. This will hopefully put us in a good place to start preparing for week 1 against Lowell Catholic.”
The Red Devils will face a challenging schedule, starting with the season-opener at. Lowell Catholic on Friday, September 11. Roque and his crew then will trek to Division 2 Waltham on September 19 before hosting Hamilton/Wenham on September 25.
Chelsea will meet Greater Boston League (GBL) foes Revere, Malden, Medford, and Lynn Classical in October and play at Minuteman Regional on October 29.
That will lead into the MIAA playoff/consolation format in November. Chelsaa will meet East Boston on Thanksgiving Eve under the lights at Chelsea Stadium.
“This year’s schedule has us on the road a bit more and all of our opponents are quality teams,” said Roque. “GBL teams are always competitive since all the teams are nearby and the athletes know each other.
“This year we have D2 Waltham in our second game of the year,” Roque continued, “and even Minuteman Tech almost came back to win in the final seconds last year. We will be challenged this year, but the commitment from this team is incredible. They have been putting a lot of work towards having a winning season.”
CHS fall sports
season set to get underway next week
After two weeks of practices and scrimmages, the Chelsea High fall sports season shifts into high gear next week:
— The CHS boys soccer team will entertain Revere on Tuesday (September 8) and will travel to East Boston on Friday;
— The CHS girls team will make the short trek to Revere on Tuesday;
— The CHS girls volleyball team will travel to Everett next Wednesday and will host non-league foe Winthrop next Friday;
— The CHS boys and girls cross country teams will host Malden on the course at Admiral’s Hill next Wednesday; and
— The CHS football team gets its season underway next Friday evening (Sept. 11) when the Red Devils make the trek to non-league opponent Lowell Catholic.
New format this
year for GBL in
soccer, hoop, baseball; GBL Cup introduced
The Greater Boston League (GBL) has adopted a new format for its eight schools in the sports of soccer, basketball, and softball/baseball for the 2026-27 season.
Instead of each school playing its seven GBL foes twice each, each school now will play its GBL rivals just once. The team with the best record in those seven games will determine the GBL champion.
In addition, there also will be a GBL Cup at the end of the season. Teams will be seeded 1-4 and 5-8, with both brackets playing semifinal and finals contests. The winner of the 1-4 bracket will be awarded the GBL Cup. In addition, the losers in the semis in both brackets will meet in consolation games.
The GBL is switching to the new format reportedly because one of the schools felt that playing each GBL school twice adversely affected its MIAA power rankings, which determines qualification and seeding for the post-season MIAA state tournaments.
Each school is free to schedule more than one game per season with a GBL foe, but the second contest will be deemed an exclusionary game for purposes of deciding the GBL championship and seeding for the GBL Cup.