Catholic League football will return to a field near you this weekend as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Catholic high-school teachers’ union settled their strike Monday.
"Because physical conditioning and safety are a primary concern in contact sports such as football, the athletic schedule will be adjusted," said a statement from the archdiocese. "A new Catholic League schedule will be issued later this week. Non-contact sports may commence immediately."
Catholic League athletic directors will hold a meeting today to discuss the schedule changes. Games that were scheduled for Sept. 5-7 are tentatively rescheduled for Nov. 14-16. The St. John Neumann football team, who opened the season with a win over North Catholic on Labor Day Weekend, only has to make up a Sept. 6 game against Bishop McDevitt. Last weekend’s non-league contest against Episcopal Academy was canceled.
Catholic League football teams got clearance to resume practice last Friday afternoon after the archdiocese and teachers’ union reached a tentative agreement. Neumann athletic director and football coach Ed "Bubby" DiCamillo said he felt especially bad for the upperclassmen.
"The seniors are the ones most affected by this because they are the ones looking to get into a school and hoping to get something out of this season," he said.
–by Bill Gelman
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U.S. soccer at the Linc
The 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup will make its first of two stops at Lincoln Financial Field Saturday with two matches: Norway takes on France at noon, and Nigeria vs. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea follows at 2:45 p.m.
Team USA will be in Philadelphia next Thursday to face Nigeria at 7:30 p.m.
This will mark the first time in 35 years that Philadelphia has hosted a U.S. soccer match. The Women’s World Cup, which is held every four years, was originally to be played in China, but was moved due to SARS concerns. The United States beat out Sweden, Australia, Italy and Canada in the bid to be the new host country. The games will be played beginning Saturday and run through Oct. 12 in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, Columbus, Ohio; Portland, Ore.; and Los Angeles.
The start of the World Cup comes just days after the Women’s United Soccer Association professional league announced that it will suspend operations due to insufficient revenue to support a fourth year of play. There are 56 players from the league competing in the World Cup.
The U.S. team, which captured World Cup titles in 1991 and 1999, features Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy. Nigeria, which is in Group A with the Americans, Sweden and Korea, has won the last three African Women’s Championships. The Americans defeated Nigeria 7-1 in their 1999 World Cup meeting.
The defending champions hope to make another run at the World Cup title in Los Angeles Oct. 12.
–by Bill Gelman
