Country’s largest Catholic prep sports league celebrate legendary players and teams during 2026-27 season
DETROIT ─ When Catholic High School League director Mike Evoy says, “There’s a rich history here,” his statement barely scratches the surface of the country’s largest Catholic prep sports organization that came into existence in 1926.
And officials of the league and member schools plan to celebrate 100 years of the CHSL during the upcoming school year, with several events being planned throughout the 2026-27 campaign to highlight past and present student-athletes.
The CHSL will kick off the school year with a special Centennial Mass on Sept. 3 at Holy Redeemer Parish in Detroit.
“Archbishop Edward Weisenburger has committed to celebrating it,” Evoy said. “Although Holy Redeemer is a big church, in order to fit everyone in, we’re inviting each Catholic school to bring 30 student-athletes. And of course, it’s open to the public too, being a Mass.”
The CHSL’s largest event each year is the Prep Bowl, and this year’s showcase will take on a centennial flair as well. Not only will the Oct. 24 event at Ford Field feature championship football contests, but the day-long celebration will also include the presentation of the 100 greatest male and female student-athletes in league history.
The honored members – nominated by the schools and the general public and finalized by a 20-member committee – will be invited to attend and be presented on-field prior to the 7:30 p.m. game between Birmingham Brother Rice and Novi Detroit Catholic Central (historically referred to as the CHSL’s top rivalry).
According to Evoy, the committee had quite a task setting the lists at 100 after accepting nominations since January.
“When you have Super Bowl champions, World Series participants, Olympic participants, it’s a pretty impressive list,” Evoy said. “We also had a number of qualified nominees that didn’t make the list. Some of those resumes were great, but not compared to some of the 100.”
Evoy said the athletes will be presented alphabetically, with “no numerical ranking or any other way to sort them.” And although it’s been suggested to also generate a list of the league’s 100 greatest coaches, Evoy said the league’s intentions are to keep the focus on the Catholic student-athlete.
The celebration continues into the winter with the premiere of a documentary on the CHSL’s centennial, produced by the Southfield-based State Champs! Sports Network. The video, which has been in production for about a year, is tentatively scheduled to be shown in January or February at the Bonstelle Theatre, on Woodward Avenue in Detroit.
Also in the works for the winter is a “throwback night,” where each of the current member high schools will be encouraged to partner with a closed Catholic high school from their area and spotlight that school during a home sporting event. Some of the possibilities include adopting an alternate identity and sporting the colors and nickname of the partner school, or working with active alumni groups to have historical displays at the games.
When spring rolls around, league officials plan to organize a gala which would be open to anyone or any school that has been associated with the league. Everyone would be encouraged to design an exhibit to recognize their school and/or sports teams.
And with an eye on ensuring future stability for the Catholic League, Evoy said the league will do a “soft” fundraising “$100 for 100” campaign.
“We’ll just put out QR codes,” he said. “We won’t be going to the schools with this, but we’ll just be asking for $100 for the 100 years. It would be a great way to honor a coach or a teammate, and continue our legacy.”
Some features of the centennial celebration aren’t tied to a specific date or event.
While the Catholic League’s website (chsl.com) has been designed with the student-athlete in mind, Evoy said the league will seek to engage alumni through its social media sites, on Facebook and the site formerly known as Twitter.
“We’ll have a number of reoccurring features, such as Monday Memories, Tuesday Trivia, Future Friday; things like that, and include a quick video or blurb what it means to compete in the CHSL today,” Evoy said.
Evoy – appointed as the league’s eighth director in February following the sudden passing of Vic Michaels – said there are two aspects that make the Catholic League special.
“It’s always been about the people -- athletes, administrators, coaches, and most importantly, the parents who have made the sacrifice to send their kids at the Catholic League,” he said. “And one of our driving factors is our faith. We understand our faith and share that with our opponents. That can’t be overlooked.”
Around 120 high schools have been members of the league during its first century. Although many have closed over the years, the CHSL is still in growth mode this decade, expanding its membership beyond the Archdiocese of Detroit footprint to include institutions from Toledo and Jackson. The independent Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills joins the league this school year, while the Catholic League will welcome Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in 2027-28, setting the membership at 34.
“We started out 100 years ago with every Catholic high school in the Detroit area,” Evoy said. “There’s a commitment to being a league member. Not many leagues can say they’ve been around that long or have been as consistent.”
