BEVERLY HILLS – Even while guiding one of the state’s most successful athletic programs as an independent academic institution, Detroit Country Day School Athletic Director Dan MacLean looked favorably upon the Catholic High School League.
It turns out that the feeling is mutual. The Catholic High School League’s Executive Board unanimously voted to accept Country Day’s membership application to the CHSL on Tuesday, Feb. 10. The move is effective for the 2026-27 school year, beginning with fall sports.
“We’re very excited to bring them in as league members,” Catholic League Director Mike Evoy said. “We really think they’re going to be a natural fit, and competition is going to be elevated with them in the league. It’s only going to get better now that they’re league members.”
“There’s a lot of mutual respect,” MacLean said. “Being where we are in our neighborhood, and I think the fact that our school has come such a long way in the time that I’ve been there athletically, we’ve become very competitive.”
Established in 1914, Country Day is located at 13 Mile Road and Lahser Road in Beverly Hills and houses 610 students in grades 9-12. Country Day has been without a league affiliation since the mid-1980s, and as a result, has played opponents far and wide in many sports, including several CHSL members.
“With the Catholic League looking to expand, with scheduling and other variables getting more difficult, I think it makes some sense,” MacLean said. “The fact that you can regulate that a little bit for your community and have the ability to play for league championships, that’s all good, because in some sports it’s all or nothing. That’s kind of our motivation.”
MacLean, who is also Country Day’s head varsity football coach, said having a regular slate of league opponents will add some consistency to the Yellowjackets’ total athletic program, which encompasses 31 teams.
“Football is obvious because you have to qualify (for the state playoffs), but if you can have a little more regularity in your schedule, I think that’s helpful. It gives the kids a little bit more of a regular experience where they’re doing those types of things,” he said. “My coaches and I participated in a league (in our playing days) and I think that just about everybody that I’ve talked to within our school and administration is in favor of it.”
According to Evoy, he and former league director Vic Michaels were talking about potential Catholic League expansion late last fall, and “made some initial phone calls to several Catholic and non-public schools in metro Detroit just to get a sense if there was any interest.”
Country Day stepped forward, and after several follow-up phone conversations, Evoy spent several hours on the DCDS campus, touring the school’s athletic facilities and meeting with school administrators.
“It really speaks to them, and then they’re just going to be a natural fit as far as facilities, the student-athlete, and the competitiveness,” Evoy said. “They’re very successful; our league members are very successful, and everybody’s going to benefit from this. They are going to take us up on, I believe, every sport that we offer.”
The school has built an athletic program worth emulating. The Yellowjackets have won numerous MHSAA state titles, including four in 2024-25: girls’ volleyball, girls’ lacrosse, girls’ tennis and boys’ tennis (a shared championship with CHSL member Ann Arbor Greenhills). Already this year, Country Day has claimed state crowns in boys’ soccer and girls’ volleyball.
In addition, Country Day holds records for the most state championships in boys’ soccer (16) and girls’ basketball (13).
Country Day’s across-the-board success was a factor in their acceptance, yet it wasn’t the only reason, Evoy said.
“Board members know that Catholic League schools currently have scheduled them in various sports,” he said. “They’re a neighbor, close proximity, they have wonderful facilities, the student-athletes grew up together in the feeder programs for everybody. The kids grew up together and then they split up and went to different high schools. The coaches know one another. It was time for them to be, quote-unquote, not on the outside looking in.”
“The year that I came to Country Day was 1985, when they stepped out of that league they were in (the former Metro Conference) and became and independent,” MacLean said. “Although we are in a league in a couple of sports, hockey and so forth, we’ve entertained this before early in my athletic career. Being a Catholic League guy, I thought we had a lot in common, but it didn’t work out.”
This was not Country Day’s first motion to join the CHSL. The first occurred decades ago ─ before the league began accepting non-Catholic non-public schools ─ so that request was denied.
“I believe that may have been before the Catholic League executive board maybe 30 years ago, it might have been closer to 40, but (acceptance) didn’t occur at that time,” Evoy said. “Like all things, it changes over time. The league membership believes it is going to be a natural fit. They already play them in a number of athletic contests, the only difference is really now, it’s going to be for a trophy as opposed to a non-league game.”
Following the CHSL executive board’s approval, MacLean said Country Day is “taking it slow and getting ready to go.”
He said, “With the kids there will probably be a different range of reactions. It’s a two-year commitment and then we can re-evaluate, but we’re hopeful, based on our recent conversations, that it will be a positive experience.”
There is more of a connection between Country Day and the Catholic League than meets the eye. MacLean mentioned that several DCDS coaches graduated from or coached at CHSL member schools. Also, MacLean and his five brothers attended Birmingham Brother Rice, his sister attended Birmingham Marian, and the siblings went to Our Lady Queen of Martyrs (Beverly Hills) and/or St. Bede (Southfield). His brother, Tom, is the longtime coordinator of the CYO football program at Bloomfield Hills St. Regis.
