A new day for Bishop Feehan (edited and updated)

The word is out today that the Catholic Central League will admit Bishop Feehan High School of Attleboro and Bishop Stang High School of Dartmouth, bringing that league's membership up to 15 members, not all of which compete in all sports

The move was made necessary by the dissolution of the Eastern Athletic Conference, of which Feehan and Stang are two of the last three members from the original league that was formed in the early 1980s after the implosion of the Southeastern Mass. Conference. Coyle and Cassidy High School of Taunton, whose enrollment has been steadily shrinking over the past decade, is left out of the mix.

The new CCL membership:

Archbishop Williams, Braintree
Arlington Catholic, Arlington
Austin Prep, Reading
Bishop Feehan, Attleboro
Bishop Fenwick, Peabody
Bishop Stang, Dartmouth
Cardinal Spellman, Brockton
Cathedral, Boston
Cristo Rey, Boston*
Lowell Catholic, Lowell
Matignon, Cambridge
St. Bernard's-Central Catholic, Fitchburg*
St. Mary's, Lynn
St. John Paul II, Hyannis*
St. Joseph Prep, Boston

* -- not in all sports

Bishop Feehan President Tim Sullivan revealed the details of the league expansion in a post on the school's website. It said:

"In most sports, Feehan and Stang along with Archbishop Williams High School (Braintree) and Cardinal Spellman High School (Brockton) will join to form a four team “south” division within what has been the CCL Large. Arlington Catholic High School (Arlington), Austin Preparatory School (Reading), Bishop Fenwick High School (Peabody) and St. Mary’s High School (Lynn) will comprise a “north” division within the CCL Large.

"The CCL also features long-time members Cathedral High School (Boston), Cristo Rey High School (Boston), Matignon High School (Cambridge) and Saint Joseph Prep High School (Boston) who will remain in the CCL Small division in most sports.

"For Feehan, this will mean a 10-game league schedule for most sports with home and away games against the three other south programs and a single cross-over game against each north team.  Feehan is not expected to have cross-over games with the Small division schools. Feehan will remain independent in football, winter track and spring track." (I added the boldface; it's an important bit of information that football will still be going it alone.)

“We couldn’t be more excited about this new opportunity for our school, our teams and our kids,” Sullivan said. “The CCL provides everything we could want in a conference -- terrific school partners, all with a shared mission, plus highly competitive athletics that will bring out the best in our student-athletes.”

Strangely enough, this is something I proposed in print at least 20 years ago. It's not the ideal situation for the Shamrocks because the travel to many of their road games will be outrageous, but given the ongoing objections by nearby public-school leagues to admitting a Catholic school, it's about the best that can be expected.