A Tradition Shut Down

A successful High School football program will close its door. Driscoll Catholic High School in Chicago will not be back in operation next year because of low enrollment rate and financial problems due to the recession. The school is not a newly opened school, its been around since 1966 and its football team the Highlanders, has won 7 consecutive Class A championships. Last season the high school football program lost in the quarterfinals in the playoffs ending their season run at 9-3 and 92-6 over 7 years total. Brother Kevin Convey, director of education said it was because of the plunging population and economic recession the school had to shut its doors.

I think this is sad for kids who are 8th graders right now that were look to be Highlanders and running around in the colors of the school. Also all the younger kids who really believed that they would one day wear the football team’s jersey and play for the school. Those dreams are sadly gone. Many of those kids believed that they would have a legitimate shot at winning a championship on a team with winning tradition and now those dreams kind of hit a speed bump.

Those kids might not get the opportunity to be coached by a good coach at Driscoll. For many kids, a coach is a role model during their years in high school. To some he is like a second father figure or a father figure to those who don’t have a father around in their lives. We seek advice in our coaches when something is not right, we see our coaches everyday if they’re a teacher within the school. We naturally build a bond with them if we like them or not. The relationship between a NFL coach and a NFL player isn’t the same as a high school coach and high school player. Kids who were hoping to get coached by the head coach over Driscoll won’t now possibly. I bet the head coach will get another job somewhere else because of his resume, but it won’t feel the same without wearing those Highlander colors. The tuition of the school is $8,000, and I think the teachers and people who ran the school should’ve taken in account that the economy would hurt some people in some way. I’m not saying it’s the school’s fault, but it should’ve done something to change it and to stabilize their enrollment process for next year. It sucks to see a great football program walking away from the field for good.