New Brother Rice head coach is named
- Thread starter EdgyTim
- Start date
If he were handed an invite to the Prep Bowl, what would be his reaction?
I don't believe an alum is necessary to make a Catholic program be great, but I do believe in someone who understands the Chicago area and how Catholic schools need to operate in the current climate of the Chicago area, especially in the city. This could be the greatest hire ever and it's probably a really good thing that he's getting a season of "on the job training," but this is not your typical high school environment. I hope for BR's sake that Quedenfeld is hungry and aggressive.
That's a pretty tall order. How many times has that happened in the history of Brother Rice football?
New eyes. Fresh ideas and new leadership can be a great thing for an organization. Seems like a terrific hire!
BR recruitment office/Social media does a great job recruiting far and wide for kids, not only football
Good to hear because it seems to me that Rice is about a third of the size that it was when they surpassed Gordon Tech as the largest all boys school back in the late 80s/early 90s. Not meant as a comment about their current recruitment efforts, but Rice's enrollment is a shadow of its former self.
If this is the case, I wonder if some gradual reversal could be seen? Given the greater commitment to in-person learning and the lesser chance of non-academic "woke" curriculum, could private schools become more attractive, family resources permitting?
Maybe, but it comes down to $$$. Many people who could afford a private education 30 years ago can just no longer afford it.
The suburban kids who do not play sports have been abandoning the Catholic high schools for awhile now. That is where the enrollment drop is coming from.
His wife grew up on the Southside I believe- the nice thing is that he knows how to recruit - the private schools in Texas and California have to fight hard to get kids to abondon their public league options. I think he knows his Xs and Os. Good luck to the guy
Big reason for enrollment drops is also because families aren't having 5,6,7, kids anymore. Especially in the South side neighborhoods that filled these schools for decades. Typical families are having 2 or 3 now....can't afford much more. When I was growing up 3 was the minimum...I was the youngest of 7 and having 7 kids was very common in my youth and we are talking the 1980's, back then nobody blinked an eye, you hear 7 kids now and eye's widen. Divorces are more common now then in many of our youths. Not to mention the sky high difference in tuition and the huge increase in cost of living. It's not the main reason but it's a big factor.
You are right on target with typical families past and present. I had three brothers and hand me down clothing was a must for our family. Having a Catholic education was always a priority for my family and Mom and Dad sacrificed other things to ensure we received it.
And in the old days the priests and brothers were strict disciplinarians who thought nothing of banging heads against the lockers. That wouldn't fly today, but at the time it was an effective means of maintaining order. The halls and classrooms rarely descended into chaos. As a result, most of the students, even if they weren't especially studious, managed to get a good education.
The public schools in the neighborhood--Harper and Lindblom--were poor choices at the time, and they hardly sent anyone on to college. Lindblom has since become a Math and Science Academy with a high graduation rate. The only thing it doesn't have is a football team.
The public schools in the neighborhood--Harper and Lindblom--were poor choices at the time, and they hardly sent anyone on to college. Lindblom has since become a Math and Science Academy with a high graduation rate. The only thing it doesn't have is a football team.
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It sure is.
The very real demographic changes throughout a lot City neighborhoods and much within a 60 mile radius of the City also play a big part.
Catholic education is not a cultural norm within most of these communities like it was to so many from the 1920s-1980s.
Among the guys I went to High School with in the 1970s, most were from Catholic Grammar schools or were from Catholic families, went to Public Schools and went to CCD class on Sunday after attending Mass with their parents.
That to has changed dramatically.
I am amazed at the changes when I drive through areas that I knew well as a Sales Rep early in my career.
With Gordon/DePaul prep relocating and the missionary like focused Jesuit projects as exceptions, when (how long ago) and where was the last Catholic High School built in the Chicago area?
Lastly, as a State the number of school aged kids in Illinois is down considerably; this is hitting many Public School systems too.
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Don't know about the majority, but you can't say that schools like Loyola, Ignatius, Cristo Rey Jesuit, Christ the King, Benet, Marmion, Naz, Notre Dame, Cristo Rey St. Martin, Marist, Wheaton St. Francis, etc. are shadows of their former selves in terms of enrollment. Some schools, like DePaul Prep, have figured out how to reverse an earlier downward trend and are on a pronounced upswing (7 straight years of enrollment growth).
Yes, some schools have witnessed way bigger declines than others. Rice would be in that way bigger group as opposed to a school like St. Pat's which has experienced a smaller overall and percentage decline.
In 1996, the IHSA reported an enrollment of 2,698 for Rice, which was basically double their male only enrollment. That means they would have had an enrollment back then of 1,350 boys. Prior to that, Rice had approx 2,000 boys in the 1970-71 school year. The Expansion and Decline of Enrollment and Facilities of Secondary Schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago Perhaps Rice had a larger enrollment than 2,000, but I can't find any sources for that.
Currently, Rice is reporting an enrollment of 652 boys. Rice enrollment
Everything is relative. I wonder if alumni and administrators of Rice back in the 70s and 80s would say that an enrollment of 652 boys would be "doing just fine."
I don’t think BR or MC are doing just fine but their heads are safely above water...for now. SR is in a bit of trouble but they just spent a lot of money to improve the campus that may give them an enrollment boost but we’ll see. Marist is the only South Side HS that can claim they are doing just fine. If MC and BR can stay above 525 students they will safely remain open as MC has huge alumni backing and BR location will always draw local grade school students, but as grade school enrollments continue to be low, it will continue to effect BR, MC and SR as we are the last of the all male options in the area. Fingers crossed for all of us.
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Typical Rice wussy comment badmouthing SR
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Initially a significant one, it’s getting them all to stay that’s the challenge
I assume you mean regular students, not necessarily football players. Why do they leave, and where do they go? The neighborhood can't be worse than it was in '66. About a dozen of us took the 63rd St. bus, which needed a police escort through Blackstone Ranger territory.
Not really, call someone and ask how many freshmen you guys have coming this August. It's common knowledge.
Queen of Martyrs, St. Germaine and St. Linus enrollment all have taken a huge hit over the years. Q of M had 4 boys in a recent graduation class..4! All those schools were BR feeders. St. Denis, St Bedes Queen of the Universe, St. Mary’s and Tribius were all BR feeders 15-20 years ago and all have either closed or are at bare boned enrollment that are on the verge of closing. That really hurt BR when those schools closed or had a severe enrollment decline.
One saving grace for MC with enrollment is they are able to get students and athletes from NW Indiana. It’s been an on going joke that MC recruits out of State when in reality coming to MC from Munster or other towns is maybe 10 min more then coming from Mt. Greenwood and there is a South Shore train that stops in front of the school.
Yes, those schools (QM, Redeemer, Christina, Germaine & Linus) have dwindled quite a bit, you are correct, but its not because there are no kids in those neighborhoods. Do the math, they are going to Mt. Greenwood School, OLHMS and BR does pretty well out of those schools. Now, the schools over by Midway probably arent coming back nor are they sending many kids to Catholic HS, and yes that was a big hit for BR. And StL. And SR.
You are correct about a lot going to CPS but it's still a hit not have that direct feed from Catholic Grade schools to certain HS. Of course BR gets students from MTG and OL but so does every HS. Losing those feeder schools that sent 90% of the boys to your school sucks. I posted an above post that family sizes just aren't what they used to be, it's effecting the numbers. Also the flight out of Chicago by non City employees will continue to rise.
I wonder if there's an uptick from the former Clark and Gavit areas in Hammond. Consolidated into 1 large Hammond closer to the downtown. I think the other Carmel's 90s-00s boomlet kicked off when Waukegan west closed and lasted until VH, Lakes, and Grays north opened.
Not a wussy comment at all.
it’s actually a concerned comment, I don’t want any catholic school to close and hope all of them have healthy enrollments
St Rita is in trouble heading towards the LEO way of things. Believe me I hate to see that happen
I thought it was the prep-school-ization (high tuition, deliberately selective enrollment) effort we read about in 2018/19. Was that a big smoke and mirror job to cover the declining enrollment trend or the demand just wasnt there for a boys MC-Ignatius hybrid in bad and still downtrending neighborhood ?
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