A New Conference For Schools Around The City

hit..the Catholic League has undergone some changes over the past few years. From the Chicago Metro Conferences where the playing fields were supposed to be even...at least in football. The Cath and ESCC merged to do this. This year, the ESCC and Cath went back to their old configurations. As for football, the Cath was split by school size, trying to even the playing field. I think it kept the traditional North/South alignment for every other sport. There are certainly other leagues out there that schools could join to be more competitive. The Chicago Cath league is probably the most historic and traditional in the area so I doubt that many will want to leave.

That Catholic League, with its realigned divisions, is a "figment" of someone's imagination re the quality of the athletic programs.

When schools like St. Rita had 2000 students and St. Philip, Weber and Mendel and Leo were vibrant institutions, that was the real Catholic League.

In my opinion, now we just have a "pretender".

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Understand what you are saying about schools like Providence playing the DeSales, Leo and Hales in baseball. But what about Leo and Hales in basketball? Leo and Hales don't have the money for the equipment or the coaching or the "recruited" talent that a school like Providence has.

The South side of Chicago has very few Catholic parishes in the areas where Hales and Leo might draw their student bodies from. Not like the old days where there was a parish every couple of blocks. Now...both the West and South sides are filled with "hand-written" signs advising "Elder-this" and "Deacon-that" and their ministry. Not exactly like expecting a visit from the Cardinal!