Sunday Chat is a weekly feature appearing in the Blade’s print and digital platforms each Sunday.
The move to the Catholic High School League based in Detroit for several Toledo area high schools has ushered in a new era of athletics.
St. John's Jesuit, St. Francis de Sales, Central Catholic, Notre Dame Academy, and St. Ursula Academy have transitioned smoothly into a new league that is deep and talented in many sports.
The fall season saw immediate success for the Toledo schools with Central Catholic winning a football title and St. John's Jesuit claiming a boys soccer title, while St. Ursula was runner-up in volleyball and Central Catholic was runner-up in girls basketball.
The Blade caught up with CHSL director Vic Michaels to discuss the past year in the league and what the Toledo schools have helped bring to a conference that has a long and storied history of athletic success.
The Blade: How has the transition gone so far with the Toledo teams in the Catholic High School League?
Michaels: It's been really good. We knew there would be some challenges with scheduling with the different time frames that Ohio has for the beginning and end of each season. But it's worked out really well. As long as I-75 stays open, I think the travel is OK. Nobody has had any issues with that. They love the competition. The existing schools we had are happy to compete against a same, faith-based school and they are pretty good and have made us a lot better in quite a few sports. They won our football, and they were in our finals in girls basketball and volleyball. They won golf and they won boys soccer. They are good, and there's some good competition.”
The Blade: What kind of feedback have you received so far from the Toledo schools in the league?
Michaels: With the Toledo schools, there are some scheduling issues that are different from what they are used to. We don't schedule two or three years out. We schedule two years out with dates. We'll give them next year's schedule and the following year's dates, but not the schedule in case someone asks to be realigned. So, that's different for them. I know that presents some problems with some of the assigners in Ohio. They like to get their games on the books and filled well in advance, more so than we do. But I think we've been able to work out those details.
The Blade: How about the feedback from the existing schools welcoming in the Toledo schools?
Michaels: The existing schools love the competition. You think about it in many sports, like for example football, and our schools are playing whoever they can. Without Toledo, they are picking up two or three different games around the state or out of state just to get a game. Our league is pretty good, so nobody really likes to play us unless they are pretty good. I'm getting good feedback from my Toledo [athletic directors] and my Michigan ADs. They really like the competition. We still have some things we have to work out, but that will take a year or two with the differences.
The Blade: Are there still sports where the seasons are different as far as fall versus spring in Ohio and Michigan and how has that worked and how will that work moving forward?
Michaels: The seasons that are different, the Ohio schools just don't compete in our league in those seasons. In some of the sports, they have a clearance from the Ohio association to compete in our championships. So they wouldn't compete in a league during the league season, but their students are eligible to swim with us or golf with us in the seasons that are different. That's a little burden on the Ohio schools, but it's only a couple of sports.
The Blade: Were you surprised at the level of success of some of the Toledo schools right away or were you expecting that?
Michaels: We knew they were good. We had played them in a number of nonleague games throughout the years to know the level of competition they were bringing to us. We appreciate that. Our Central Division, boys and girls, many people will say is the best division in the state. Our boys basketball Central Division is the best basketball division in the state, no question. Last year and probably next year, we have a lot of returning players. We knew there would be challenges for some of the Toledo schools, but they held their own. St. John's finished in third place in boys basketball and lost a tough quarterfinal game in our playoffs. We knew that they were good and they were well-coached. The coaches have bonded really well. I think a lot of that is because we are like-minded in our athletic programs and we have the same type of kids.
The Blade: Is there anything else as far as innovating or maneuvering that you would like to see in the near future with the league? What's kind of on the horizon?
Michaels: It's really just about the scheduling. We were most worried about the scheduling. It's an hour and 15 minutes for all of their schools to come here and all of our schools to go there. It's some added costs that our schools have had to incur, but it's been well worth it, for sure.
First Published April 21, 2024, 3:00 p.m.
