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WCAC creates two subdivisions in football

For The Catholic Herald

Beginning in the fall of 2018, the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference’s football teams will compete in two divisions. Each one will have its own playoffs and championship game.

 

The Capital Division will be composed of Bishop McNamara, DeMatha, Gonzaga, Our Lady of Good Counsel, and St. John’s.

The Metro Division will include Archbishop Carroll, Bishop Ireton, Bishop O’Connell, Paul VI and St. Mary’s Ryken.

Schools will be able to compete across divisions and maintain long-standing rivalries and major conference games. The composition of schools in the divisions will be revisited every two years.

“This is an opportunity for WCAC schools to play national, regional, and local schedules within as well as outside the conference,” said WCAC Commissioner Steve Colantuoni. “It provides a flexibility that best serves our student-athletes and our member schools.”

“The board has taken strides this year along with the new commissioner to come to a unanimous agreement about the new structure,” said Tom Curry, head of school at Bishop Ireton and outgoing chair of the WCAC board. Along with Bishop O’Connell and Paul VI, Bishop Ireton’s football team will return to the conference under this new structure.

There are no plans currently for other sports to compete in the two divisions, although the conference is open to exploring that in the future.

Dan McMahon, DeMatha principal and incoming chair of the WCAC board, said, “This organization of the league allows us to preserve historical ties and serve our students well.”

The WCAC also is adding a new school. The Heights, a boys’ school in Montgomery County, will join the conference in the 2017-18 year in all of its sports. Together, Colantuoni and the heads of schools see this addition as part of a vision for possible continued expansion of the league.

 

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