Story by
DeSales, Hartley, Watterson among founding members of Ohio Catholic Athletic Conference
- Story by
- DeSales, Hartley, Watterson among founding members of Ohio Catholic Athletic Conference
Drawing a parallel with the realignment that has impacted college football in recent years, Hartley football coach Brad Burchfield was clearly exuberant Tuesday after news of a new eight-team league combining Columbus-area and northeast Ohio schools went public.
DeSales, Hartley and Watterson are joining with Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph, Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit, Youngstown Mooney and Youngstown Ursuline to create the Ohio Catholic Athletic Conference, which will begin play in the fall of 2026.
Advertisement
"It's a Catholic super-league," Burchfield said. "It's going to be where the big boys play. It will bring a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, a lot of statewide attention. …
Watterson quarterback Nate Henderson rolls out of the pocket during a 7-on-7 competition June 13 at Pickerington North. The Eagles, last year's Division III state runners-up, will be part of the new eight-team Ohio Catholic Athletic Conference that was announced Tuesday. The league, involving Columbus-area and northeast Ohio Catholic schools, will begin play in the fall of 2026.
"We've kind of always wanted this to happen. We think it makes a lot of sense. We started working on this in 2017. We kind of tip-toed with each other and nothing really happened. You have to find partners that want to do it. All eight schools kept having at it, didn't give up and tried to find a way to do something great."
The schools have combined for 29 state championships — led by eight from Mooney, six from SVSM and four each from Hartley and Ursuline — and 80 regional titles. Watterson was Division III state runner-up last fall .
Advertisement
"You see the best conferences and best teams at the college level go nationwide, and it puts ideas in people's heads as to whether we can do that in our great state," Burchfield said.
The conference was created June 20 during a meeting at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
The OCAC will be football-only at first, but its press release announcing the formation of the league said there are "future plans for competing together in all Ohio High School Athletic Association -sanctioned sports."
DeSales' Elazar Hood, center, defends a pass to Ready's Dalton Miller during their game Sept. 15, 2023. DeSales will be one of eight teams in the new Ohio Catholic Athletic Conference that will begin play in the fall of 2026. Hartley and Watterson also are joining the league, which also includes five northeast Ohio Catholic schools.
"We want to build long-lasting relationships … and we want to have great opportunities for competition," said Jim Jones, an assistant principal at DeSales and the CCL commissioner since 2017. "Scheduling is a very difficult thing for our schools, and this allows schools that have the same dedicated work ethic to come together. It will be a very exciting product for the casual fan."
Advertisement
Jones emphasized that the CCL will continue to exist after 2026 in all sports, at least in the early years of the OCAC. The CCL was founded in 1962.
St. Charles, which is not a founding member of the OCAC, will play DeSales, Hartley and Watterson within the first five weeks of the season.
St. Charles athletic director Dave Lawler did not immediately return a message from The Dispatch seeking further comment on his school's plans.
The OCAC schools will play each other in weeks 4-10.
"You always want to be a part of something bigger than yourself," Walsh Jesuit athletic director Mark Hassman said. "We'll have like-minded schools and you're part of a community. With that, our kids have the opportunity to get first- and second-team honors in the conference. It's better for our kids."
Advertisement
Jones said bylaws will be set at a Nov. 11 meeting. Ideas for competition in other sports are expected to be discussed that day.
The CCL formed an alliance with the southwest Ohio-based Greater Catholic League in 2019 to alleviate issues with football scheduling, but that lasted for one season.
That year, DeSales, Hartley, St. Charles and Watterson played nonleague crossover games against Dayton Carroll, Dayton Chaminade Julienne, Franklin Fenwick and Kettering Alter.
"Up until this moment, we'd kind of been down this road before in terms of trying to set something with (another) league," Watterson football coach Brian Kennedy said. "I didn't get too excited because we'd been down this road before and been disappointed, but this felt different. It's exciting. You look at the history and tradition of all of these schools, it's a pretty impressive league for sure."
Contributing: Akron Beacon Journal
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New Ohio Catholic Athletic Conference beginning play in 2026
