Why can’t the non-Catholic CHSL schools play in the Catholic League championships?
That was the question posed to me recently by Joe Turinsky, former tennis coach at Allen Park Cabrini and Riverview Gabriel Richard.
The answer — “It’s complicated” — was provided by Vic Michaels, who speaks with wide-ranging experience and knowledge gained from his 19 years of administering the Catholic High School League (eight as associate director, the last 11 as director).
Before expounding on Michaels’ answer, here’s some background:
The three non-Catholic high schools in the CHSL are Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook, Macomb Lutheran North, and West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy.
They are deemed “associate” members of the Catholic League, contrasted with the 24 Catholic high schools who are “full” members.
The difference between the two was defined way back in 1996 by the CHSL Executive Board. To wit, associate members are “non-public or religious-based high schools” who are “granted the right to participate in regular-season divisional or dual meet competition only ... not eligible for Catholic League preliminaries or championship meets, individual sports playoffs or Catholic League championships in team sports.”
Jewish Academy is one of four non-Catholic high schools accepted by the CHSL about a dozen years ago. The others were Taylor Light and Life and Detroit Urban Jewish Academy (both of which eventually closed) and a Catholic high school from Windsor, which the CHSL dropped after a handful of years because of the hassle crossing the border and the difference in athletic eligibility rules between Michigan and Ontario.
Restrictions on associate members participating in CHSL championship games wasn’t a problem until five years ago, when Cranbrook and Lutheran North, both members of the old Metro Conference, joined.
While the Jewish Academy, established in 2000, is still developing its young sports program, Cranbrook and Lutheran North field highly competitive teams, often winning enough to be eligible for the CHSL playoffs.
But that’s where their journey for CHSL championship glory ends — even though, as Lutheran North’s athletic director Ryan Wesley states, “We are watching teams we had beat playing for the championship. It is difficult to explain to our community why this is so.”
Steve Graf, AD at Cranbrook, says the school “feels privileged to be in the Catholic League, but it’s disheartening for the kids not to be able to compete for the championship.”
Wesley remembers his first meeting of the CHSL Executive Board, when a vote was overwhelmingly passed (Michaels recalls it was 22-2) to allow associate members to play in championship games.
Here’s where this all gets complicated.
About half of the 29 boys and girls sports sponsored by the CHSL play their championship contests on a Saturday, such as cross country, tennis, hockey, bowling, wrestling, swimming, soccer and lacrosse. Presently, the Jewish Academy fields boys and girls teams in four of these.
“It is our core belief,” says Jewish Academy athletic director Rick Dorn, “not to engage in any school activities on the Sabbath (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday).”
Michaels met with the Academy’s administration seeking their agreement to not play in any Saturday contests if the Academy is eligible. Instead, the Academy responded with a request that the CHSL make “every reasonable effort” to accommodate their Sabbath restrictions.
Dorn says he “works closely with the state” to reschedule any state tournament contests that might conflict with the Sabbath.
Michaels added “we are happy to have the Jewish Academy” in the CHSL, but says, “Saturdays are the best day for academic athletics. We wouldn’t be able to reschedule contests in many of the facilities that we use.”
“We’re open to talk,” says Dorn. “We’d love to give the kids the opportunity.”
Solomon, where are you when we need you?
Don Horkey may be reached at [email protected].
