Sports in Massachusetts

Notable athletes from Massachusetts

Massachusetts has produced several successful Olympians including Thomas Burke, James Connolly, and John Thomas (track & field); Butch Johnson (archery); Nancy Kerrigan (figure skating); Todd Richards (snowboarding); Albina Osipowich (swimming); Aly Raisman (gymnastics); Patrick Ewing (basketball); as well as Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Bill Cleary, and Keith Tkachuk (ice hockey).

Notable soccer (or association football) players from Massachusetts include Bert Patenaude, Billy Gonsalves, Geoff Cameron, Miles Robinson, Sam Mewis, and Kristie Mewis. Patenaude and Gonsalves, both inductees of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and natives of Fall River, Massachusetts, played for the U.S. men's national team at the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930 (hosted in Uruguay). Patenaude scored the first hat-trick in World Cup history. The USMNT finished in third place.

''Sports Illustrated'''s 50 Greatest Sports Figures from Massachusetts

In 1999, Sports Illustrated published the fifty (50) greatest 19th and 20th century sports figures from each U.S. state. The criteria used was "not necessarily to where [the athletes] were born, but to where they first showed flashes of the greatness to come." The ten highest ranked Massachusetts athletes were as follows:

File:Rocky Marciano (cropped).jpg|{{center|Rocky Marciano (Boxer) File:Doug Flutie, Generals football press conference.jpg|{{center|Doug Flutie (American football) File:Patrick Ewing 1984.jpg|{{center|Patrick Ewing (Basketball Hall of Famer) File:Aly Raisman Rio 2016b.jpg|{{center|Aly Raisman (Olympic gymnast)

Major League Professional Teams

Current teams

Former teams

Major league professional championships

Boston Red Sox (MLB)

9 World Series titles

• 1903
• 1912
• 1915
• 1916
• 1918
• 2004
• 2007
• 2013
• 2018

Boston Braves (MLB)

1 World Series title

• 1914

New England Patriots (NFL)

6 Super Bowl titles

• 2001 (XXXVI)
• 2003 (XXXVIII)
• 2004 (XXXIX)
• 2014 (XLIX)
• 2016 (LI)
• 2018 (LIII)

Boston Celtics (NBA)

18 NBA Finals titles

• 1957
• 1959
• 1960
• 1961
• 1962
• 1963
• 1964
• 1965
• 1966
• 1968
• 1969
• 1974
• 1976
• 1981
• 1984
• 1986
• 2008
• 2024

Boston Bruins (NHL)

6 Stanley Cup titles

• 1929
• 1939
• 1941
• 1970
• 1972
• 2011

New England Whalers (WHA)

1 Avco World Trophy

• 1973

Minor League or Semi-Professional Clubs

Other professional teams

Minor league teams

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College sports

NCAA: Divisions I and II

In addition to the schools listed here, Franklin Pierce University, a full Division II member located near the state border in Rindge, New Hampshire, plays its men's and women's ice hockey home games in Massachusetts on the campus of The Winchendon School. FPU plays men's hockey in the Northeast-10 and women's hockey as a D-I program in the New England Women's Hockey Alliance.

NCAA: Division III

NAIA

USCAA

NJCAA Division II

NJCAA Division III

High school

Main article: Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) is an organization that sponsors activities in thirty-three sports, with 383 public and private member high schools in Massachusetts as of November 2023. The MIAA is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), which writes the rules for most U.S. high school sports and activities. Established in 1978, the MIAA succeeded the Massachusetts Secondary School Principals' Association (MSSPA), which operated from 1942 to 1978, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Council (MIAC), active from 1950 to 1978.

In 2016, the MIAA recognized rugby as the 35th sport following a vote in 2015 that passed by a wide majority. As of 2022, there are 19 MIAA boys’ teams and 7 MIAA girls’ teams across the state. By 2025, four boys' teams were competing in Division I and seven in Division II, while four girls' teams competed in Division I.

References

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