Football scheduling in the Eastern Connecticut Conference has long been as aggravating as an IRS audit for its Division I schools.

It just so happens that scheduling has been a headache in the Southern Connecticut Conference that grows by the year. And the South-West Conference, comprised mostly of Class M or S schools, was looking for ways to give its schools more games against teams their size.

And so a partnership was born. East Lyme, Fitch, Ledyard, New London and Norwich Free Academy will play at least two crossovers in an alliance involving the SCC and SWC starting next season.

Teams will be matched up based on size and strength and played in Weeks 2 and 6. East Lyme and Ledyard, who have played crossovers with the SCC in the past, will play a third nonleague game.

The ECC is currently set up so that its five Division I schools are only guaranteed six games with no required crossovers with its Division III schools. It has made life difficult for the athletic directors at those schools to find four more games.

The SCC adopted a three-division format this season that goes out of its way to keep its biggest and best schools from its weakest and smallest. Seven of the SWC's 12 schools are Class M or S. Newtown, which has state's 12th largest boys enrollment, has lost just one league game since 2012.

The league commissioners from the ECC (Gary Makowicki), SCC (Al Carbone) and SWC (Dave Johnson) got together to work towards a cooperative venture.

“Leagues aren’t leagues anymore, and we have to move towards a more of a district model that everyone has talked about,” Carbone said. “That’s ultimately going to be the future of football.”

The five ECC Division I schools have flirted in the past with joining the SCC for football.

“The travel time isn’t onerous, it’s convenient, and we know it’s (the SCC) a solid conference,” East Lyme athletic director Steve Hargis said.

The proposed schedule of games features the following match-ups for the five ECC schools are:

• East Lyme (Class L): Stratford (SWC, Class M), Guilford (SCC, Class L), and Barlow (SWC, Class M)

• Fitch (Class L): Branford (SCC, Class M), and Notre Dame-West Haven (SCC, Class L).

• Ledyard (Class S): Creed/Career/Whitney Tech (SCC, Class M), Bassick (SCC, Class L), and Notre Dame-Fairfield (SWC, Class S).

• New London (Class L): Masuk (SWC, Class L), and Fairfield Prep (SCC, Class LL).

• Norwich Free Academy (Class LL): Cheshire and West Haven (SCC, Class LL).

Ideally, Carbone would like the ECC’s other schools to get involved to help scheduling for the SWC and SCC's smaller schools.

“We hope other leagues will take part in this,” Carbone said. “The more teams, the better.”

n.griffen@theday.com

ECC-SCC-SWC SCHEDULING ALLIANCE

Following is the 2017 schedule (sites TBD) for Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I football schools taking part in the ECC-SCC-SWC scheduling alliance (each school is guaranteed two games although East Lyme and Ledyard were able to schedule three):

East Lyme — Week 2: Stratford; Week 6: Barlow; Week 11: Guilford

Fitch — Week 2: Notre Dame-West Haven; Week 6: Branford

Ledyard — Week 2: Creed/Career; Week 4: Notre Dame-Fairfield; Week 6: Bassick

New London — Week 2: Masuk; Week 6: Fairfield Prep

NFA — Week 2: Cheshire; Week 6: West Haven