• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Rich Stichel Jr., Archbishop Curley varsity offensive coordinator, reviews a play with his team during an Aug. 11 varsity preseason practice. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Transition to high school football is daunting, rewarding for Catholic school players

September 1, 2022
By Adam Zielonka
Special to the Catholic Review
Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Schools, Sports

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

August and September signal the return of football, and each year a host of athletes reach a new level, whether as NFL draft picks, new college recruits or incoming high school freshmen.

As players dust off their pads, a sort of culture shock awaits many high schoolers as they climb that ladder for the first time.

Loyola Blakefield freshman Bing Burch, center, scores a touchdown during JV football practice August 13, 2022, at the Towson campus. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“In youth football, you always play both sides of the ball. You’re like the man of the team and you never get out of the game,” Archbishop Curley sophomore defensive lineman Kevin Bright said. “At varsity, I had to fight for my spot and I never did that before.”

The amount of practice increases and players are introduced to the weight room. The more rigorous regimen, combined with higher academic expectations, makes time management one of the biggest challenges for freshmen, according to sophomore football players who made the transition last year.

Bright and Loyola Blakefield linebacker Hudson Carter are telling their new freshman teammates to stay proactive with their schoolwork – not only to remain eligible to play but also to enjoy the season more.

“I’ve had the experience of winning a game, but not feeling so good knowing I have so much homework to do after that win,” Carter said. “The win feels 10 times better knowing that you don’t have anything else to do.”

Jace Bang, a senior defensive end for Curley, made the transition from playing middle school soccer to high school football. He suggested that first-year high school players have patience and find a mentor.

“There’s always someone to help out,” he said.

Coaches and administrators around the archdiocese realize high school can feel daunting and requires a difficult mental adjustment. That can be true for a new player who feels in over his head, but just as true for the star athlete dead-set on earning a college scholarship.

Archbishop Curley junior running back Caron Madison finds a hole in the defensive line during varsity preseason practice Aug. 11. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“To put that amount of pressure on yourself as an athlete, or maybe your parents put that on you, that’s a lot of expectations to put on those kids,” Curley Coach Brendon Ireton said. “To me, you’ve just got to come in and enjoy the process and enjoy your transition to high school.”

Nate Marr, a veteran college and high school coach entering his first season as head coach of St. John’s Catholic Prep in Frederick, added that managing expectations was “huge” and work ethic was paramount.

“It’s working hard in the weight room, understanding this is a process,” Marr said.

Coaches have aimed to mitigate the culture shock by instilling program cultures where each athlete is cared for as a person first, and varsity players treat newcomers as brothers.

When Ben Liguori was a rising freshman at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn last year, he had a memorable moment when senior Patrick Wagner picked him for his team during a preseason drill.

“That right there sparked me to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just got picked for a team by a senior.’ That made me feel like I was looking up to someone,” said Liguori, a linebacker.

While earning college scholarships is a worthwhile goal, coaches cautioned freshmen shouldn’t make that their sole focus and shouldn’t overlook Division II and III schools.

“It’s really important to sit down with parents and kids and explain, yeah, you have this goal of being a college athlete but you need to do this first, and these are the choices, habits and behaviors you need to put your focus on,” Loyola Blakefield Athletic Director Blake Henry said.

And not making varsity right away is not the end of the world – just ask Henry.

Before he became an All-ACC offensive lineman at Wake Forest, Henry was cut from varsity as a ninth grader at Loyola. He said the school’s president at the time, Jesuit Father Jack Dennis, recognized it would be better for Henry’s social development to play with his class.

“I think he saw that early – what’s happening some today of kids getting pushed to certain levels before they’re ready,” Henry said. “Sometimes it’s not just about what kind of player you are on the field, it’s about how you interact in the whole team culture and the maturity level, too.”

Liguori wants freshmen to know the transition will only be strenuous if they expect it to be. “If you don’t let those emotions get to you,” Liguori said, “you allow yourself to just play the game you’re used to playing.”

Read about Baltimore-area Catholic school football players competing professionally by clicking below:

Baltimore Catholic school players in NFL at a glance

Read More Sports

Villanova athletes inspired that pope keeps tabs on how his alma mater’s teams fare

Babe Ruth’s legacy continues to grace Archdiocese of Baltimore

Radio Interview: Baltimore sports broadcaster shares the importance of his Catholic faith

Take care of body, mind, heart, spirit, pope tells professional cyclists

Welcoming Naples soccer team, pope hints he may not be a Rome fan

Chicago Archdiocese, White Sox team up to celebrate Pope Leo and his ‘message of peace’

Copyright © 2022 Catholic Review Media

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Adam Zielonka

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Religious sisters played role in pope’s formation in grade school, N.J. province discovers

  • With an Augustinian in chair of St. Peter, order sees growing interest in vocations

  • Babe Ruth’s legacy continues to grace Archdiocese of Baltimore

  • Communicate hope with gentleness

  • ‘The Ritual’ seeks to portray exorcism respectfully

| Latest Local News |

Franciscan Sister Francis Anita Rizzo, who served in Baltimore for 18 years, dies at 95

Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry

Radio Interview: Dominican sister at Mount de Sales shares faith journey from astrophysics to religious life

Mount de Sales Dominican sister shares journey after pursuing science, finding faith 

Words spell success for archdiocesan students

| Latest World News |

Parishes will pay $80 million in Buffalo Diocese’s $150 million bankruptcy settlement

Papal diplomats must always defend poor, religious freedom, pope says

On a day of ‘national tragedy,’ Austria mourns 9 victims of high school shooting

Fathers of the Church: The Greek (or Eastern) Fathers

In move called a ‘dark day’ for residents, N.Y. Senate passes assisted suicide law

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Parishes will pay $80 million in Buffalo Diocese’s $150 million bankruptcy settlement
  • Papal diplomats must always defend poor, religious freedom, pope says
  • Franciscan Sister Francis Anita Rizzo, who served in Baltimore for 18 years, dies at 95
  • ‘No tengan miedo de hacer lo que El Señor quiere para nosotros’
  • On a day of ‘national tragedy,’ Austria mourns 9 victims of high school shooting
  • Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry
  • Fathers of the Church: The Greek (or Eastern) Fathers
  • In move called a ‘dark day’ for residents, N.Y. Senate passes assisted suicide law
  • Pope Leo’s core identity is Augustinian, say religious

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en