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New Orleans Catholic League
The Catholic League (LHSAA district 9-5A) is a high school sports league in the Greater New Orleans area.
The history of the Catholic League can be traced back to 1895, but the first season of the Catholic League as we know it was in 1955. The league is named for having mostly New Orleans' oldest and biggest Catholic schools, though some public schools have played in the league as well.
Chalmette High School in St. Bernard Parish had the longest tenure of any public school in the Catholic League. Chalmette was admitted to the Catholic League, then District 6-AAAA, in 1970 and stayed for 18 years. Chalmette was an all-boys school through the 1987-88 school year, but played one more year in the league after admitting girls, since the LHSAA reclassifies schools in November of even-numbered years for the following two school terms. Chalmette exited the Catholic League for the 1989-90 school year, then dropped out of the highest classification when the LHSAA added a new classification for the 1991-92 term. The Owls did not rejoin the Catholic League until 2007, when Chalmette became the lone high school in St. Bernard following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and thus had a 5A enrollment.
In 1992, the LHSAA's first classification plan for the 1993–94 and 1994-95 school years would have dissolved the Catholic League, spreading the seven schools amongst three districts and mixing them with public schools from Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. The plan drew serious objections from both Catholic and public schools: the Catholic League schools were afraid of significant financial losses, since public schools generally have far less fan support than Catholic schools; and the public schools feared competitive imbalance. Eventually, the Catholic League was kept intact, with Slidell High School added, a move which was sharply criticized by the St. Tammany Parish school board and Slidell supporters, who were angered to see longtime rivalries with fellow St. Tammany schools Covington and Mandeville placed on hiatus. Slidell was moved out of the Catholic League and back into a St. Tammany-based district in 1995-96.
In 2010, LHSAA enrollment figures dropped Archbishop Shaw High School and St. Augustine High School into class 4A, leaving the district with three Catholic schools which had to be combined with three public schools to form a new district.
WLAE-TV 32 in New Orleans has produced a documentary named Glory Days, with part 1, focusing on the 1950s and 60s, airing in November 2010, and part 2 airing in September 2012, which tells the tale of the 1970s, when the Catholic League was regarded as the toughest high school sporting district in America. More parts are planned.
The LHSAA passed a rule in 2005 designed to limit schools with low enrollments playing "up" in class, believing that football powers such as John Curtis Christian School and Evangel Christian Academy were using 4A and 5A status, respectively, to attract students to their schools. Curtis was dropped to 2A in 2005, and Evangel to 1A before moving up to 2A in 2007. The effects of this rule shook up the Catholic League. De La Salle, which became a co-educational school in the 1992-93 school year, dropped out voluntarily after the 2002-2003 school year after being a member of the league since 1955. Archbishop Shaw left the league after 2005, and Holy Cross, with enrollment declining since Katrina and its school nearly destroyed by the levee breaches along the Industrial Canal, moved down to 4A for 2007 and further down to 3A for 2009. The league, left with four schools and in danger of being combined with a nearby Jefferson Parish public school league, accepted public school and former member Chalmette High School to bring itself back to five schools and remain a standalone league.
Reclassification in 2009 added Archbishop Shaw back into the Catholic League, as their enrollment increased over the 5A threshold. It allowed Chalmette High School to move to a neighboring district of Jefferson Parish public schools where they hoped to be more competitive.
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New Orleans Catholic League
The Catholic League (LHSAA district 9-5A) is a high school sports league in the Greater New Orleans area.
The history of the Catholic League can be traced back to 1895, but the first season of the Catholic League as we know it was in 1955. The league is named for having mostly New Orleans' oldest and biggest Catholic schools, though some public schools have played in the league as well.
Chalmette High School in St. Bernard Parish had the longest tenure of any public school in the Catholic League. Chalmette was admitted to the Catholic League, then District 6-AAAA, in 1970 and stayed for 18 years. Chalmette was an all-boys school through the 1987-88 school year, but played one more year in the league after admitting girls, since the LHSAA reclassifies schools in November of even-numbered years for the following two school terms. Chalmette exited the Catholic League for the 1989-90 school year, then dropped out of the highest classification when the LHSAA added a new classification for the 1991-92 term. The Owls did not rejoin the Catholic League until 2007, when Chalmette became the lone high school in St. Bernard following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and thus had a 5A enrollment.
In 1992, the LHSAA's first classification plan for the 1993–94 and 1994-95 school years would have dissolved the Catholic League, spreading the seven schools amongst three districts and mixing them with public schools from Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. The plan drew serious objections from both Catholic and public schools: the Catholic League schools were afraid of significant financial losses, since public schools generally have far less fan support than Catholic schools; and the public schools feared competitive imbalance. Eventually, the Catholic League was kept intact, with Slidell High School added, a move which was sharply criticized by the St. Tammany Parish school board and Slidell supporters, who were angered to see longtime rivalries with fellow St. Tammany schools Covington and Mandeville placed on hiatus. Slidell was moved out of the Catholic League and back into a St. Tammany-based district in 1995-96.
In 2010, LHSAA enrollment figures dropped Archbishop Shaw High School and St. Augustine High School into class 4A, leaving the district with three Catholic schools which had to be combined with three public schools to form a new district.
WLAE-TV 32 in New Orleans has produced a documentary named Glory Days, with part 1, focusing on the 1950s and 60s, airing in November 2010, and part 2 airing in September 2012, which tells the tale of the 1970s, when the Catholic League was regarded as the toughest high school sporting district in America. More parts are planned.
The LHSAA passed a rule in 2005 designed to limit schools with low enrollments playing "up" in class, believing that football powers such as John Curtis Christian School and Evangel Christian Academy were using 4A and 5A status, respectively, to attract students to their schools. Curtis was dropped to 2A in 2005, and Evangel to 1A before moving up to 2A in 2007. The effects of this rule shook up the Catholic League. De La Salle, which became a co-educational school in the 1992-93 school year, dropped out voluntarily after the 2002-2003 school year after being a member of the league since 1955. Archbishop Shaw left the league after 2005, and Holy Cross, with enrollment declining since Katrina and its school nearly destroyed by the levee breaches along the Industrial Canal, moved down to 4A for 2007 and further down to 3A for 2009. The league, left with four schools and in danger of being combined with a nearby Jefferson Parish public school league, accepted public school and former member Chalmette High School to bring itself back to five schools and remain a standalone league.
Reclassification in 2009 added Archbishop Shaw back into the Catholic League, as their enrollment increased over the 5A threshold. It allowed Chalmette High School to move to a neighboring district of Jefferson Parish public schools where they hoped to be more competitive.