St. Rita fans........
- Thread starter feeto
- Start date
I think if people are honest they will tell you 79th & Western is working against them just like 63rd & Western was working against them before the move. There's no doubt that they are losing kids to Rice, Marist & recently Naz & St.Laurence. I agree Catholic league football is better with a healthy St. Rita. I hope they can weather the current storm.
Not saying that 79th and Western doesn't have its challenges, but so does Woodlawn with MC, and so did the neighborhood around Iggy before it became gentrified. It can be done.
No doubt can be done and I hope it does but it's certainly an issue. It was talked about a lot last year with the possibility of Rita moving to Lincoln Way North property.
A few questions from the uninitiated:
When did St Rita move? I attended one of the Illini' spring practices there a few years ago and thought the field looked great...nice campus feel as well.
Would St Rita actually "lose" kids to Naz?!? It doesn't seem geographically feasible. One school is on the south side of Chicacgo while the other is in LaGrange Park...realistically how many buses would a kid have to take to make that trip? How long would it take?
I must've been living in some alternate universe but I always thought St Rita & Mt Carmel were fairly close to each other, perhaps even on the same street. I looked both up yesterday and had no idea Mt Carmel is so close to the U of C; Rita is where I thought is was.
I dated a girl (many years ago) from Palos Hills and went to Stagg. I remember talking to her brother (also went to Stagg) when he was in 8th grade and him telling me every kid on their block was going to a different high school...St Laurence, Marist, Stagg, Brother Rice, Mt Carmel..... Isn't traveling from Palos Hills to Mt. Carmel just an insane commute?!? Is Mt Carmel's academics considered that great that a family would bypass Stagg, Marist, Brother Rice, St Laurence, St Rita, etc. etc.?
Are tuitions pretty standard across the board among CCL schools?
None of my questions are meant to insult anyone or their schools and apologies if they do as that isn't my intention; I just wanted some perspective.
When did St Rita move? I attended one of the Illini' spring practices there a few years ago and thought the field looked great...nice campus feel as well.
Would St Rita actually "lose" kids to Naz?!? It doesn't seem geographically feasible. One school is on the south side of Chicacgo while the other is in LaGrange Park...realistically how many buses would a kid have to take to make that trip? How long would it take?
I must've been living in some alternate universe but I always thought St Rita & Mt Carmel were fairly close to each other, perhaps even on the same street. I looked both up yesterday and had no idea Mt Carmel is so close to the U of C; Rita is where I thought is was.
I dated a girl (many years ago) from Palos Hills and went to Stagg. I remember talking to her brother (also went to Stagg) when he was in 8th grade and him telling me every kid on their block was going to a different high school...St Laurence, Marist, Stagg, Brother Rice, Mt Carmel..... Isn't traveling from Palos Hills to Mt. Carmel just an insane commute?!? Is Mt Carmel's academics considered that great that a family would bypass Stagg, Marist, Brother Rice, St Laurence, St Rita, etc. etc.?
Are tuitions pretty standard across the board among CCL schools?
None of my questions are meant to insult anyone or their schools and apologies if they do as that isn't my intention; I just wanted some perspective.
It is possible Naz has lost 2 LaGrange residents that I can remember to Marist and Brother Rice. Competing for the same kids is possible just pretty rare. Every school within the 30 mile radius are competing with each other for kids.
Academics are important, to be sure. But a decision to attend a private high school like MC is based on more than that. Why might a kid from Palos attend MC? Maybe it is a family tradition. Perhaps mom, dad or another relative works there or near there (U of C, MSI, La Rabida, etc). Perhaps the family has a strong connection to the Carmelite order of priests that sponsors the school. Maybe they just like the feel of the place.
Last edited:
Id say #1 is StL getting kids. BR on uptick taking kids to as well as Marist. I know of some key kids Rita lost out on at the end to BR. Rita also lost frosh game to Pats. Not hearing good things on the class. In fact they don't even have frosh roster on the site I heard extremely low #.
Last edited:
Naz is relatively close to Clearing and Garfield Ridge (Harlem or Central over to Ogden), which tended to be big Rita areas dating back to the 63rd era, so there is some competition along with other CCLs.
And is Laurence just maximizing the talent of its existing far SW side Chicago/near SW suburb base North of 95th St. or is getting guys from down 79th and going down into B-MG/Evergreen and challenging the existing powers?
And is Laurence just maximizing the talent of its existing far SW side Chicago/near SW suburb base North of 95th St. or is getting guys from down 79th and going down into B-MG/Evergreen and challenging the existing powers?
Todd is nothing but a class act and great advocate/recruiter for SR, but they need to get someone with a true of
The best people to ask are parents and kids who picked other CCL schools over SR. I'm sure there are some on this board so what made SR fall short in your eyes? My guess is location, but would be interesting to hear from those who actually had to make the decision.
The best people to ask are parents and kids who picked other CCL schools over SR. I'm sure there are some on this board so what made SR fall short in your eyes? My guess is location, but would be interesting to hear from those who actually had to make the decision.
SR has fallen due to their terrible ability to win big games and finish. For a long time they were a juggernaut of studs and had some of the best teams but could not finish. MC has what 14 titles, they finish. SR has done nothing impressive with the talent they had and not are scrapping by. BR, St Laurence and Marist have injected new blood in the way of coaching staffs and it has turned their programs around. Is Kuska on the chopping block? In my non-expert opinion, yes!
This week will be a good litmus test on whether Rita is going to be 2-7 or 5-4. They need to beat a very good Rich Central team that has some speed/size. If Rita wins then I do see them getting to 5 wins. If not, it's gonna be 2-7 and another year of missing the playoffs is gonna lead to a coaching shakeup and a strong anti-Rita recruiting pillar (from a football stance that is). Rita has some nice facilities but the location isn't helping at the moment. Still we'll see what happens this weekend. I look for a strong Rita bounce back at home.
I call BS on CCLGuy99!!! SR has had 2 losing seasons since 1975, that's 40 years. They won a state title in 2006. Semi-finals in 2010 and 2011, Qr-finals in 2008 and 2009. They have had plenty more success than BR, SL, and Marist in recent years. Take a look at the teams that have eliminated them since 2004... Providence, MC, WWS, Lake Zurich, WWS, ESL, WWS, MC, and MC. Very few teams in the state that would get past those teams. They are apparently losing kids to those schools, but not for that reason. SL had a losing record 4 consecutive years prior to last season. Try again.
I agree that St. Rita having a good team is good for the CCL. Rice and Rita are always in competition for football talent. They were not good last year so i hope they do a lot better this year.
Topiary, in all those years do you agree that they have had only 1 state championship caliber team? I have seen most of those state playoff loses and feel Kuska is consistently out coached. I don't have an opinion on SR as a whole but with some of teams he's had he should have more than 1 State Championship or at least more than 1 appearance.
The issue as of late is not winning many Blue games. If they have a losing season this year then I think that would make 3 losing seasons over the past 5 (the Mister year being one of the good years). But having 2 consecutive losing seasons and not winning any Blue games this year would I think warrant a coaching evaluation by Rita folks (personally he's won a state championship and a bunch of Blue titles but in today's "what have you done for me lately" approach it might not bode well for Coack Kuska.
When you look at all of the recruiting at local grammar school games... You see a ton of coaches from BR, StL, and DLS. Todd Kuska is the only one who goes to all of the games. He needs to revamp his entire staff, MC is MC, they will get kids and Frank is never out recruiting. StL is nowhere near any team in the Blue, DLS and StL will battle all of the schools for kids if they keep working hard.
Actually SR had losing seasons in '12 and '15 so that is 2 of the last 4 and this year will be 3 of 5 .
Yeah in this day and age having 3 of 5 losing seasons is not good - you then have to look also at the underclassmen results as well and how they can project into the future. Rita does lose some key Seniors with Rule, Zaleski, McDevitt, Coghlan, Mondesir, etc.to name but a few
Okay... three seasons in 40 years if you exclude the prep bowl. So you agree with CCLGuy99, that kids want to go to St. Laurence because they have it really going on... unlike SR? SL has been so much more successful than Rita? One winning season last year, but four losing teams prior to that. Who plays the tougher schedule? Three years ago (2013) the 8th graders weren't impressed with SR's 55-14 win over SL, or their 37-14 win over PC, or their 31-19 win over Loyola? Or their 9-1 record prior to losing to MC in the playoffs by five points? MC was the only team to beat them that year. I really don't think it's about football.
My son graduated from Rice this past May. Four years ago when it was time to pick high schools it came down to Rita or Rice. It had nothing to do with location, nothing to do with the coaching staff, actually my son liked the staff at Rita better. They both offer a good education. But when it came down to it there were a couple of things that Rice offered as a far education goes that Rita didn't that is why we chose Rice. I liked Rita better but my wife liked Rice. In the end happy wife happy life.
I am not a Rita alum, but know many, including a few who are very well wired into their alma mater. First, these things go in waves so likely this perceived lower point for SR will likely pass. But, they key to the success of today's Catholic education is $$$. They can only charge so much for tuition. MC and SR always had an edge and could overcome their neighborhood locations with deep pocketed alums who could write big checks to the endowment to help draw kids with academic scholarships. Note I did not write athletic scholarships. They all know better than to award anything officially in the name of athletics per the IHSA rules. MC still keeps getting the $$. SR is losing ground in the $$ race. Fr. Tom McCarthy is no longer the Principal of St. Rita HS. He is now in a leadership position with the Augustinian Order which means he is working for broader Augustinian needs, not just SR. He is a phenomenal fundraiser and could always get that big donation to tide them over. Also, one guy cannot hold three, let alone four key leadership positions and do any one of them well. Case in point - recently, Mike Zunica was named President when Fr. Tom moved on. He was also named AD and Head of Admissions/recruiting and kept the head baseball coach position until they just named his successor there. The order also had to outbid/outspend the Leo alumni to get the former Quigley South property. The age of that property is catching up to them. SR has done well with a redo of the football field, the new wing off the west entrance, the baseball field upgrades, etc. so they are keeping up facility-wise for now. Unless they find some academic or other niche to differentiate themselves, it will be a continued challenge keeping the numbers up on 79th. SR just needs to get back on track.
I'm not so sure it's location. If you look at the Rosters of MC, BR and Rita, the Mustangs seem to be getting the majority of kids from Beverly. Parishes like CK, Barnabas and Fisher used to be hot for MC, and would send a lot of the rest to Rice and Marist. I can't tell what kids Marist is getting, as they don't have their roster listed on the school website, and therefore don't have parishes listed. But to me, it looks like Rita has really cut into what was at least part of the heart of MC's 80s and 90s success. While MC still does get a handful of football players from that area, they have gone even further by getting even more kids from the outer parts, from Francis Ward Xavier, to NWI, to Orland, and the Near Western suburbs, and all parts in between. Rice seems to be following this method too, getting kids from places it never got them from, namely what are now black suburbs. I'd say Marist is in on that as well.
The idea that Naz is grabbing a handful of kids from west of Midway isn't that crazy of an idea, as it's probably just as close as 79th and Western. St. Laurence is grabbing kids too, but I would venture to guess that given the composition of the team, Blackmon is probably getting kids from right up 79th St, in Leo and Rita territory, along with kids from Burbank, and some of the other Southwest Suburbs. They also have quite a basketball staff and their head coach is probably drawing on his own roots (near western suburbs) as well as counting on people like Sexton and Treacy to pull from the backyard as well. What's clear from Rita's basketball team is that the coach has shunned going after neighborhood kids from traditional SR parishes and gone after kids from east of the school.
I don't know if Rita going to the closed LW is the answer. Would the Augs want two schools in such close proximity to one another? Given that far out location, too, Rita would lose 80% of the kids that they have now because of the distance.
The way I see things, and this is just my opinion and developed anecdotally without any hard data, is that all of the areas surrounding Rice will be completely changed within 20 years. That changes the outlook for Rice and would put them into Leo territory in terms of demographics. And with Rice, assuming that Rita doesn't make any big moves locationally, they will both be in the same boat.
Whereas SI is ideally situated, MC is in a neighborhood that is headed up (U of C expansion and easy access from all parts off of Lake Shore Dr.
Marist being co-ed and being the only real option for kids in places like Orland and Palos, will probably sustain these same changes. It's hard to say and all very speculative. But everything on the far South Side is in transition right now and with the city cutting so many of the old jobs that fed neighborhoods that sent kids to Catholic Schools, it's all up in the air.
97 SR grad here. The reasons are pretty simple. Almost none of the boys who live in the neighborhoods in the immediate vicinity of the current SR [such as St. Rita parish; St. Mary; St. Bede; St. Denis; St. Thomas Moore, etc.] go to Catholic school anymore. Same goes for SR's traditional feeder schools when they were at 63rd Street. SR got so many boys from these schools/neighborhoods that they didn't really have to compete against BR and Marist for kids from EP, Beverly, Mt. Greenwood, suburbs,etc.. Until the early 90s, SR didn't need kids from EP, Beverly, Mt. Greenwood, suburbs, etc.
Now, SR desperately needs kids from EP, Beverly, Mt. Greenwood, etc., and SR has to compete against BR and Marist for those boys. There are fewer boys from those neighborhood going to Catholic School, and even fewer playing football. BR and Marist have some advantages over SR in terms of getting those boys b/c (i) boys from those neighborhoods historically go to BR and Marist; (ii) Marist and BR is slightly easy to get to logistically; and (iii) there is some false/negative recruiting about the safety of SR [the campus is extremely secluded, and thus safe; and SR offers basically unlimited private busing so no one takes the CTA anymore; when I went to SR, every kid in the school took the CTA]. Finally, BR and Marist have had much more recent success than SR.
Because of the rapid decline of the number of boys playing football at southside catholic high schools, and for the reasons outlined earlier, SR has a very difficult path of trying to return to football success.
Now, SR desperately needs kids from EP, Beverly, Mt. Greenwood, etc., and SR has to compete against BR and Marist for those boys. There are fewer boys from those neighborhood going to Catholic School, and even fewer playing football. BR and Marist have some advantages over SR in terms of getting those boys b/c (i) boys from those neighborhoods historically go to BR and Marist; (ii) Marist and BR is slightly easy to get to logistically; and (iii) there is some false/negative recruiting about the safety of SR [the campus is extremely secluded, and thus safe; and SR offers basically unlimited private busing so no one takes the CTA anymore; when I went to SR, every kid in the school took the CTA]. Finally, BR and Marist have had much more recent success than SR.
Because of the rapid decline of the number of boys playing football at southside catholic high schools, and for the reasons outlined earlier, SR has a very difficult path of trying to return to football success.
Last edited:
Less than 1% is the odds of the neighborhood surrounding BR resembling Leo in 20 years. BR, like Rita, has problems b/c of declining Catholic enrollment and declining number of boys playing football, but the surrounding neighborhood is not going to be a negative factor for BR.
SR is in a much more difficult position than BR. First, let me reiterate that SR, unlike Leo, is very secluded from the surrounding neighborhood; thus, SR is very safe. And as I mentioned, SR offers basically unlimited private busing so any potential danger from taking the CTA is basically eliminated. Where SR is at a huge disadvantage is that they basically get no kids from the mile radius that surrounds the school in each direction [in other words, no kids from the area between 69th and 87th and Ashland and Kedize]. Meanwhile, BR gets a ton of kids from the mile radius that surrounds the school [from the area between 91st and 111th and Kedize and Cicero].
With all due respect, you are incorrect about SR and deep pocketed alums. SR has more deep pocketed alums now. But, SR was traditionally a much more blue collar and working class school than BR or Marist, and didn't have nearly the money of those schools. When I went to SR in the early 90s, I was teased for being a rich boy from Evergreen Park. SR kids considered BR and Marist to be schools with alot of money.
SR had much less money than BR or Marist for scholarships, and these alleged scholarships were not why SR was successful. SR's success throughout the first decade of the 2000's was because (i) after MC, they have the most storied football program in the Catholic League and kids wanted to be part of that tradition; (ii) there was not much concern about concussions and most boys still played football -- so even if there were only 220 boys in the frosh class, 90-100 went out for football; (iii) there were more kids going to Catholic School than there are now; and (iv) there were still a few star athletes (such as Wade Weyer) from nearby grammar schools such as St. Denis; there are almost no such kids now.
MC def has a huge advantage in getting kids from the loop and near north side. Kids living in those areas usually have the money to afford Catholic School, and MC being right off Lake Shore Drive makes it fairly easy for those kids to get to MC. Though I still feel MC must face some of the same issues facing SR [death of feeder schools and feeder neighborhoods, etc.; negative recruiting by the other catholic schools].
The area around BR has supposedly
Well, we see it differently. A lot of those blue collar guys who went to Rita went on to be very successful and were very generous to their alma mater. When the doors have been opened since 1905, that was a hell of a head start v. the schools that opened in the 50s and 60s. There were generous alums helping SR and MC while the younger schools were just getting their alumni maturing to be able to give anything substantial. Now those younger school alumni oldest classes and years since are hitting their peak earnings and now have retirees and those who can now afford to give are doing so, but that is a very recent element - within the last 10 years max for the younger schools. I was told by my well-wired SR alum friend that the many of the very generous alums have sadly died off and the school can't get the big checks from the others like they used to. Without Fr. Tom and Ernie Mrozek to go out and get those donations on a regular basis is having its impact. Again, I too mean no disrespect, but to try to say that SR never had the support of very generous alums is a little tough to agree with. Regardless, I think we agree that $$ or lack thereof are the key.
The LWN building and facilites would be a huge benefit to Rita. Heck they'd get kids from all over - granted inner city might be a stretch but they'd own the SW suburbs with Provy
Well, you make a good point that SR has more alums because it was opened for 40-50 years earlier than BR and Marist. And I agree wealthy alums are more important now because of outrageous tuition and education costs. I guess where we disagree is that I don't think alums played that much of a factor until the late 80s/early 90s. Until the late 80s/early 90s, tuition was somewhat reasonable and the surrounding [those around the school] neighborhoods still sent most of their boys to catholic school. So, unlike today, it wasn't necessary for alums to finance the education costs of most of the boys. SR was a powerhouse in the last couple years they were on 63rd street and had the worst facilities in the state.
Last edited:
I am suspecting that Rita and Laurence need to maintain starting classes of around 140-150 to keep it going (unless massive endowments are coming in). MC needs 150-170 and Rice needs roughly 170-180. Marist is getting a steady 210-225 boys each year - so they are set