Monroe St. Mary CC to join Catholic League in 2027

The Catholic High School League continues to expand.

On Wednesday, May 13, the Catholic League announced Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central will join the league starting in the 2027-28 school year. St. Mary Catholic Central is currently a member of the Huron League.

“SMCC’s membership in the CHSL was long overdue,” CHSL director Mike Evoy said in a written release. “Their faith-based success both in the classroom and in athletics makes them a natural fit for the CHSL.”

SMCC, a longtime member of the Detroit Archdiocese, believed it was a good time to transition to the Catholic League due to the league's recent growth around Michigan and into Ohio, the ability to play at different competition levels based on individual sports, and the overall alignment to the school's faith-based educational values.

Given Monroe's location compared to other cities in the league, the main question for school administrators has centered around travel. The school will trade off longer trip for league matchups with the ability to schedule shorter trips in non-league matchups, likely against their former league mates in the Huron.

"We ran some travel analysis on our end on what it would potentially look like as far as travel," said St. Mary Catholic Central athletic director Jared Janssen. "It opened up more local non-league opportunities with teams we've played in the Huron League for years. We plan to play most of them still.

"So now, our non-league games are going to be a little bit closer compared to what they've been in the past, with farther travel for league games. So, it balances out really well."

SMCC's addition in 2027 will push the Catholic League to 35 teams. It is the second school this year to join, along with Birmingham Detroit Country Day, while Macomb Lutheran North announced it was leaving. The league has expanded to include schools from Toledo and west to Jackson (Lumen Christi) in recent years.

The school will be in a new sports league for the first time since 1968, when it joined the Huron League. SMCC was formed in 1986 through the merger of St.Mary Academy and Monroe Catholic Central.

"The selling thing for us was, with the addition of other schools, the league can align divisions for all our sports across the board," Janssen said. "They align based on how good you are in certain sports. If we are really good in a sport, there is competition for us. If we've struggled in the past in a sport, they've got good competition for us."