Historical

The Bristol Volleyball League was founded in the late 1970’s as a non-affiliated Co-Ed Volleyball Club. Originally formed as a fund raiser to help defray costs for a sick child, the league continued as a self run league with sponsorships from local businesses and with a grant from the Town of Bristol’s Department of Recreation. The league was initially comprised of 6 teams and played once a week on Monday evenings through the fall, winter, and early spring at the Andrew’s School in Bristol. In the mid 1980’s the league was placed under the umbrella of, and became an official part of the Town of Bristol’s Department of Parks and Recreation. In 1995 the league expanded to 8 teams and formally moved to Mt. Hope High School. The league was broken into 2 Divisions to facilitate scheduling.

In 1998 the league again expanded to include a Beginner’s/Intermediate Division (the C-Division). This was done to allow novice players to compete and to allow the A/B Divisions to continue as an advanced capabilities division. The C-Division was comprised of 32 players formulated into 4 teams. The C-Division also plays once a week on Monday evenings through the fall, winter, and early spring, however, this Division returned to the League’s original facility at the Andrew’s School in Bristol.  In 1999 the A-Division was reorganized into equal Red and Blue conferences and the C-Division renamed the B-Division. In 2005 the B-Division moved from the Andrew’s School to the Bristol Recreation Center. As a result of structural problems with the Recreation Center, the  Divisions were consolidated into one facility, the Mt. Hope High School, gym in 2007. As a result of scheduling considerations and the limitations of space, both divisions now consist of 4 teams each.

In 2014 the league re-organized to accommodate the migration from Mt. Hope High School to the newly renovated Quinta-Gamelin Community Center. As a result, the A-Division was split into its own entity and the B-Division remained as the Bristol Volleyball League in its present form.

The following league historical data provides a look back as far as the 1993-1994 Season. Unfortunately, computer records before this date were in a format incompatible with modern software or were not dutifully kept electronically. Historical Data back to the league’s inception may be available through the archives of the Bristol Phoenix’s Sports Department.