The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some of the schools are coeducational institutions, the conference only supports athletics for male teams. (The Girls Catholic Athletic Conference serves as its female counterpart.)
The CCL is perhaps best known for its success in football, water polo, wrestling, and baseball. Since the Illinois High School Association began a state football tournament in 1974, the CCL has placed first or second more than any conference or league in the state. Since 2002 when the IHSA first sponsored a state tournament in water polo, the CCL has not failed to win the state title for boys, until Lyons in 2012. Since 1984, when the IHSA moved to a dual-team state series in wrestling (previously, the team champion was based on the advancement of individuals in the individual state tournament), the CCL has also finished first or second more than any conference or league.
The conference's alumni include Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Lattner, Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Denny McLain, Basketball Hall of Fame member Moose Krause, Duke University men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, former NBA player Corey Maggette, All-Pro quarterback Donovan McNabb, and NBA All-Star Antoine Walker.
Member schools School Town Team name Colors IHSA Classes 2/3/4 ReferenceAurora Central Catholic High School (Boys)AuroraChargers A/1A/2ABenet AcademyLisleRedwings AA/3A/4ABrother Rice High SchoolChicagoCrusaders AA/3A/4ACarmel Catholic High SchoolMundeleinCorsairs AA/3A/4ADe La Salle InstituteChicagoMeteors A/2A/2ADePaul College PrepChicagoRams AA/2A/3AFenwick High SchoolOak ParkFriars AA/3A/4AJoliet Catholic AcademyJolietHilltoppers/Angels1 AA/2A/3AIC Catholic PrepElmhurstKnights A/2A/2ALeo Catholic High SchoolChicagoLions A/1A/2ALoyola AcademyWilmetteRamblers AA/3A/4AMarmion AcademyAuroraCadets A/1A/2AMarian Catholic High SchoolChicago HeightsSpartans AA/2A/3AMarist High SchoolChicagoRedHawks AA/3A/4AMontini Catholic High SchoolLombardBroncos A/3A/4AMt. Carmel High SchoolChicagoCaravan AA/3A/4ANazareth AcademyLa Grange ParkRoadrunners AA/2A/3ANotre Dame College PrepNilesDons AA/3A/4AProvidence Catholic High SchoolNew LenoxCeltics AA/3A/4AProvidence St. Mel School2 ChicagoKnights A/2A/3ASt. Francis High SchoolWheatonSpartans A/2A/3A St. Francis de Sales High SchoolChicagoPioneers A/1A/2A St. Ignatius College PrepChicagoWolfpack AA/3A/4ASt. Laurence High SchoolBurbankVikings AA/3A/4ASt. Patrick High SchoolChicagoShamrocks AA/3A/4ASt. Rita of Cascia High SchoolChicagoMustangs AA/3A/4ASt. Viator High SchoolArlington HeightsLions AA/2A/3A St. Joseph High School joined the conference in 2011, however the school has since closed in 2021. Lake Forest Academy joined the conference for football only in 2011. St.Viator High School joined in 2010 to compete in the conference for lacrosse. Additionally, St. Patrick High School, Notre Dame High School, and Marist High School participate in the conference for Boys Bowling.
For those schools which are coed, most of the girls teams compete in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference. The girls teams from Bishop McNamara, Fenwick, and Providence compete in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
Holy Trinity (Tigers) (1443 W. Division St) was also a Catholic League team. Last Catholic League season for football was 1965.
History The Chicago Catholic League was formed in 1912 as a way to give the all-male Catholic schools of the area interscholastic competition. The move to form the league was precipitated when the dominant high school league in the metropolitan area, the Cook County High School League, delayed the application of St. Ignatius Academy and DePaul Academy. Representatives of eight schools met at the Great Northern Hotel—De Paul Academy, St Ignatius Academy, St Rita College, St. Cyril College (which would become Mount Carmel High School), Cathedral High, St. Philip High, Loyola Academy, and De La Salle Institute — but could not get together on the particulars to form a football–only league.
In the third week of November, the schools managed to form a league and drew up a schedule of games in basketball and indoor baseball. The founding members of the league were St. Stanislaus, De la Salle, De Paul, St. Ignatius, St. Cyril, St. Philip, Loyola, and Cathedral. By the spring when a baseball schedule was drawn up, Holy Trinity had joined the league, but Cathedral dropped out, leaving an eight-team circuit. In the fall of 1913, the league introduced football. By the following year, league champion De Paul, felt feisty enough to invite St. John's Preparatory from Danvers, Massachusetts, to Chicago to engage in an intersectional contest. De Paul narrowly lost the game, but it demonstrated to the league that its program was thriving. Two years later De Paul traveled to Boston and met Beverly High in Fenway Park, destroying the team 30–7. More schools joined the circuit before the decade was up, St. Patrick in 1913, and St. Mel in 1918.
Because the Catholic school population relative to the mainstream public secondary schools and the private school was more an immigrant and working class population, the sports that the league initially sponsored reflected this demographic makeup. For example, during the first four years of the league's existence, only baseball, basketball, indoor baseball, and football were offered. Basketball was the most robust sport, as the league not only provided for heavyweight and lightweight schedules, but also bantamweight (added in 1919) and flyweight competition (added in the early 1920s). The Chicago Public High School League and Suburban League offered basketball only in the heavyweight and lightweight classes, after experimenting only a few years with a bantamweight class.
The Catholic League added track and field in 1917, but it was not until 1924 that three "country club" sports were added to the league's schedule golf, tennis, and swimming. The addition of these sports brought the league up to the level of offerings by the Chicago and Suburban public leagues. The 1920s also saw the addition of more schools to the league—St. George, Joliet De la Salle, and Fenwick.
Some working class sports that had great appeal in some Catholic schools were boxing and bowling, and the league sponsored competition for a few years during the Depression in boxing, and much longer in bowling.
By the late 1950s some of the Catholic League members were growing restive, wanting to participate in the state tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The four Christian Brothers schools – De La Salle, St. George, St. Mel and St. Patrick – withdrew from the Catholic League and joined the IHSA upon its formation of the Chicagoland Prep League (CPL) on 27 February 1961. St. Ignatius would defect to the CPL two years later on 9 April 1963.Stubits, Emil. "St. Ignatius Quits Catholic League," Chicago Sun-Times, Wednesday, 10 April 1963."St. Ignatius Drops Out of Prep League," Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, 10 April 1963.
The Catholic League finally joined the IHSA in 1974, and eventually saw the return of St. Ignatius, St. Patrick, and De La Salle into the league. Because of their membership in the IHSA, the 29-year-old tradition of a Catholic League All-Star basketball game ended in 1974. In the beginning of 1996 the CCL and the East Suburban Catholic Conference and other Catholic high schools decided to make a super catholic conference. They called it the Chicago Metropolitan Conference. Every school from the East Suburban was in the conference except Nazareth Academy and Marian Central Catholic. This conference ended in the 2002–2003 season and both conferences went back to normal. Swimming and water polo founded the Metro Catholic Aquatic Conference in 1999 which included the all East Suburban Catholic and CCL teams and still hosts a conference championship for both sports. The MCAC won every state title in water polo from 1974 to 2011.
Past members (Defunct) Archbishop Weber High School Red Horde (Defunct) St. Martin de Porres Academy Silver Eagles (Defunct) St. George Dragons (Defunct) Mendel Catholic Monarchs (Defunct) St. Elizabeth Ironmen (Defunct) DePaul Academy Blue Demons (Defunct) St. Mel Knights (Defunct) St. Philip Gaels (Defunct) St. Joseph Chargers (Defunct) Hales Franciscan High School (Defunct) Guerin College Preparatory High School Gators Gordon Tech (now known as DePaul College Prep) Bishop McNamara Catholic High School Holy Trinity High School
State championships
Baseball State championsBoys Baseball Champions and Runners-Up, @ ihsa.org; accessed 7 October 2008 1975–76 • Brother Rice (Class AA) 1977–78 • Providence Catholic (Class A) 1981–82 • Providence Catholic (Class A) 2012–13 • Mount Carmel (Class 4A) 2013–14 • Providence Catholic (Class 4A) 2014–15 • Providence Catholic (Class 4A) 2015–16 • Providence Catholic (Class 4A) 2018–19 • Montini Catholic (Class 3A) 2023-24 . Providence Catholic (Class 4A) 2024–25 • St. Laurence (Class 3A)
Basketball Prior to the 2007–2008 season, the state basketball title was contested in two classes. Since then, it is contested in four classes.
State championsBoys Basketball Championship Games, @ ihsa.org; accessed 3 February 2018 1978–79 • Providence Catholic (Class A) 1984–85 • Providence St. Mel (Class A) 1984–85 • Mount Carmel (Class AA) 2002–03 • Hales Franciscan (Class A) 2003–04 • Leo (Class A) 2008–09 • Seton Academy (Class AA) 2010–11 • Hales Franciscan (Class 2A) 2022-23 . Depaul Prep (Class 2A) 2023-24 . Depaul Prep (Class 3A) 2024-25 . Depaul Prep (Class 3A)
The 2004–05 Class A title was stripped from Hales Franciscan after it was determined that the school had not been approved by the Illinois State Board of Education between 2003 and 2005.IHSA Announcement:Board Approves Class Expansion in 2007–08, Penalizes Hales Franciscan, 11 January 2006; accessed 7 October 2008IHSA Announcement: Hales Franciscan High School Suspended From IHSA Membership, 23 November 2005; accessed 7 October 2008
Football From 1974–79, IHSA had 5 classes based on enrollment for football (1A-5A).Boys Football Champions and Runners-Up, @ ihsa.org; accessed 7 October 2008 In 1980, IHSA expanded to 6 classes. 2001 saw the latest change, which added 2 more classes, which is what is played to date.
In 2019–20, CCL merged with the ESCC for football only. The CCL/ESCC is divided into six divisions.CCL/ESCC realigns its divisions for fall season, @ ShawLocal.com; accessed 3 October 2022 Blue Green Orange White Purple RedBrother RiceMontiniCarmelDePaulBenetDe La SalleLoyolaNazarethFenwickIC CatholicMarmionMarianMaristSt. FrancisProvidenceJolietNotre DameLeoMt. CarmelSt. RitaSt. IgnatiusSt. LaurenceSt. PatrickSt. Viator
State champions 1976–77 • St. Laurence (Class 5A) 1978–79 • St. Rita (Class 5A) 1980–81 • Gordon Tech (Class 6A) 1980–81 • Mt. Carmel (Class 5A) 1981–82 • Brother Rice (Class 6A) 1982–83 • Bishop McNamara (Class 3A) 1985–86 • Bishop McNamara (Class 3A) 1986–87 • Bishop McNamara (Class 3A) 1987–88 • Providence Catholic (Class 4A) 1987–88 • Bishop McNamara (Class 3A) 1988–89 • Mt. Carmel (Class 6A) 1989–90 • Mt. Carmel (Class 5A) 1990–91 • Mt. Carmel (Class 5A) 1991–92 • Mt. Carmel (Class 5A) 1991–92 • Providence Catholic (Class 4A) 1993–94 • Loyola Academy (Class 6A) 1994–95 • Providence Catholic (Class 5A) 1995–96 • Providence Catholic (Class 4A) 1996–97 • Mt. Carmel (Class 5A) 1996–97 • Providence Catholic (Class 4A) 1997–98 • Providence Catholic (Class 4A) 1998–99 • Mt. Carmel (Class 5A) 1999–2000 • Mt. Carmel (Class 5A) 2000–01 • Mt. Carmel (Class 5A) 2001–02 • Providence Catholic (Class 6A) 2002–03 • Mt. Carmel (Class 6A) 2002–03 • Providence Catholic (Class 5A)