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Forget about the days of Saturday afternoon football and Catholic League Red and Blue titles.
Thanks to the new swanky digs on Bigler Street, complete with a turf field and lighting, the Neumann-Goretti football team will play its 2008 home games Saturday nights. With Philadelphia Catholic League schools being full-fledged Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District 12 members, teams are eligible to compete for league, city and state titles. Add in new home and away uniforms and Saints football coach Bill Sytsma can’t wait to get things started.
"Not only are you competing for a Catholic League title, but you have the chance to compete for a city title and after that go out and compete for a state title," the coach said. "It’s much more recognition then there had been in the past."
The old, enrollment-based Red and Blue Divisions are being replaced by the AAAA, AAA and AA groupings, which also are based on student numbers. The Saints are in the AAA classification with Archbishop Wood, Lansdale Catholic, Conwell-Egan and North Catholic. Four of the five will qualify for the league tournament, with the winner advancing to the city title game against a Public League squad from the same classification to determine the state tournament representative. The Public League’s AAA Division consists of Dobbins, Gratz, Mastbaum, Penn and Roxborough. Defending champs, the Edward Bok Tech Wildcats from Eighth and Mifflin streets, are now a Class AA squad.
The downside is those yearly Labor Day weekend trips to the Jersey Shore to play North Catholic are off the schedule as the two foes now face each other during the regular season.
"I am going to miss that one," Sytsma said of the Beach Bowl. "I played in that game as a player in 1994. It was a big game with a big crowd. [Losing it] is part of the growing pains with the new league."
The Saints are more excited about the future. In preparation for the season, the squad participated in the Fairmount Park Passing Football League, where it finished with an 8-4 record. Quarterback Anthony Mastrando threw for 20 touchdowns in the 12 games.
Starting Aug. 4, the varsity players will be back at 26th and Moore streets for training camp. Instead of worrying about the four division teams, Sytsma’s only concern is getting his squad qualified for the postseason.
"When you look at the city and state, the playing field is so big," he said. "[In the division] you are just competing with four other team. Once you are one of those top four teams anything can happen."
Neumann-Goretti’s first of four non-league games to open the season takes place Aug. 29 at Upper Merion. Their first home match at the Bigler Street complex is Sept. 6 against Wyomissing.
"It will be the first time ever that there are night games in South Philly," Sytsma said. "People are not going to recognize us with our brand-new home uniforms."
New Catholic League Divisions AAAA
Bonner, Judge, La Salle, O’Hara, Roman, Ryan, St. Joe’s Prep
AAA
Conwell-Egan, Lansdale Catholic, Neumann-Goretti, North Catholic, Wood
AA
Carroll, Dougherty, Kennedy-Kenrick, McDevitt, West Catholic
2008 schedule
Games begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Neumann-Goretti’s home field is 10th and Bigler streets.
Aug. 29 at Upper Merion
Sept. 6 Wyomissing Home
Sept. 13 at McDevitt (Germantown) 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 20 at Prep Charter (Southern) 2 p.m.
Sept. 27 Conwell-Egan Home
Oct. 4 Archbishop Wood Home
Oct. 11 at North Catholic (Frankford) 1 p.m.
Oct. 17 at Kennedy-Kenrick
Oct. 24 at Landsdale Catholic (Wissahickon)
