The Girls Catholic Athletic Conference (GCAC) and the Chicago Catholic League (CCL) announced the addition of four new schools — Rosary High School in Aurora, Aurora Central Catholic High School in Aurora, St. Francis High School in Wheaton, and IC Catholic Prep (ICCP) in Elmhurst.
The GCAC is welcoming all four schools to its conference while the CCL is opening up to three schools. The timeline for the arrivals of the new four schools will be during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons.
• 2022-2023: Rosary High School (Rosary) joins the GCAC.
• 2023-2024: Aurora Central Catholic (Aurora Central), IC Catholic Prep (IC Catholic), and St. Francis High School (St. Francis) will join the GCAC and CCL respectively in 2023-2024.
“Both leagues are extremely competitive,” said Thomas Schergen, an executive in both conferences and principal of De La Salle Institute. “With the addition of these four tradition-rich institutions we have set our respective conferences on a continued path of success.”
“We are excited to combine the rich tradition of IC Catholic Prep with the CCL and GCAC,” said Stephen Davidson, principal of ICCP in Elmhurst. “As IC Catholic Prep athletics continue to thrive, we are honored to be joining these storied leagues.
“I would like to thank the members of the CCL and GCAC for their acceptance and open dialogue during this entire process.”
“This is a big step for our athletic programs,” said Michael Fahey, director of athletics of ICCP. “We are thrilled to join the CCL and GCAC as it will provide more opportunities for our student-athletes to succeed at the highest level. This move will allow for greater development of our lower-level programs and overall competitive parity for our girls and boys sports teams. “
In the GCAC the four schools will join the 12 continuing members – De La Salle Institute, DePaul College Prep, Fenwick, Loyola Academy, Montini Catholic, Mother McAuley, Providence Catholic, Resurrection, St. Francis de Sales, St. Ignatius, St. Laurence, and Trinity — to bring membership to 16 schools.
In the CCL the three schools will join the 14 continuing members – Brother Rice, De La Salle Institute, DePaul College Prep, Fenwick, Leo Catholic High School, Loyola Academy, Marmion Academy, Montini Catholic, Mount Carmel High School, Providence Catholic, St. Francis de Sales, St. Ignatius, St. Laurence, and St. Rita of Cascia High School — to bring membership to 17 schools.
A history of the League
Though not the oldest high school athletic conference in the state of Illinois, the Chicago Catholic League has been in operation longer than any other. It all began on October 3, 1912 when representatives of eight parochial schools met in Chicago’s Great Northern Hotel (demolished in 1992) to found the Catholic League. Those charter members were Loyola academy, St. Cyril (Mt. Carmel), DePaul Academy, St. Philip, St. Ignatius, De La Salle, Cathedral and St. Stanislaus. Learn more at chicagocatholicleague.com.
The Girls Catholic Athletic Conference was established in 1974, three years before the IHSA recognized girls’ sports. Twelve women athletic directors got together to form what eventually become the largest all girls’ conference in the country. At one point in its history the conference had 36 member schools. The schools came from as far south as Chicago Heights, as far east as 102nd near the Indiana border, as far west as Rolling Meadows and as far north as Lake Forest. Learn more at gcacnow.org.
