Big changes are coming to the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference and Chicago Catholic League, with eight schools joining the GCAC and nine joining the Catholic League for the 2026-27 season.
Benet, Carmel, Joliet Catholic, Marian Catholic, Marist, Marmion, Nazareth and St. Viator are joining the GCAC. All of those high schools except Marmion, which will be going coed for the first time that academic year, are members of the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
Benet, Carmel, Joliet Catholic, Marian, Marist, Nazareth, Notre Dame, St. Patrick and St. Viator will be joining the Catholic League. All of those schools also are from the ESCC. Notre Dame and St. Patrick are all-boys schools.
Thomas Schergen, the principal of De La Salle and executive representative of the GCAC and Catholic League, welcomed the development.
“Both leagues are extremely competitive,” Schergen said. “With the addition of these tradition-rich East Suburban Catholic institutions, we have set our respective conferences on a continued path of success and continue to strengthen these premier Catholic athletic organizations.
“We look forward to having these new members under the Chicago Catholic League and Girls Catholic Athletic Conference banners, both athletically and academically.”
Founded in 1975, the ESCC began with Carmel, Holy Cross, Marist, Notre Dame, St. Joseph, St. Patrick and St. Viator. Between 1982 and 2014, Joliet Catholic, Benet, Marian Catholic and Marian Central Catholic entered the mix. Fenwick, Bishop McNamara and Providence joined the ESCC with girls teams before leaving for the GCAC.
Since 1974, the ESCC have won 96 team state championships and 91 individual state titles.
The addition of the ESCC schools and Marmion will boost the GCAC to 24 teams. The Catholic League will expand to 26. The Catholic League was started in 1912. The GCAC was established in 1974.
Dan Tully, principal at Notre Dame and chairman of the board of the ESCC, also was excited about the move.
“The ESCC’s legacy of academic and athletic success, as well as our standards for competitive excellence, align closely with the heritage of the Chicago Catholic League and Girls Catholic Athletic Conference,” Tully said. “Bringing our schools together will expand competitive opportunities based on geography and parity while also maintaining long-standing rivalries for the benefit of our communities, teams and student-athletes.
“As faith-based institutions, we strive to offer a comprehensive educational experience, along with high-quality co-curricular programming. The ESCC’s history of achievement dovetails with the rich traditions of the CCL and GCAC and we look forward to furthering our partnership.”