Providence Celtics

[Red Turban]

One thing you said is untrue. Private schools do still have a professional fraternity. It is still almost impossible for me to get a Chicago traffic ticket as a DLS grad. I got one 4 years ago (accidentally blew a sign otw to the Cheesehead). Somehow it came up and he was pissed I didn't tell him before he wrote the ticket lol.

Also regularly get client requests on social media from DLS and other Catholic League grads.

[chino1992]

As a former wrestler and football player at Providence, it is saddening to see the school collapsing, but I do not think it is entirely self-inflicted.

There is no question that the openings of Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West has decimated the football program. This was once a program considered among the finest in Illinois--now they are not even the greatest in Will County. Numbers are down, down, down...my freshmen squad had close to (90) and less than a handful were gone by senior year, as we never had a issue with transfers.They barely have (40) now, and many will have transferred by senior year. The once-great coaching is pathetic at best.

12,000 tutition and high Will County taxes are not helping. Atheism is rising among Americans, so many are not willing to spend that much for a high school education that you will never put on your resume after college--nobody cares what high school you graduated from in the business world. Not relevant to anything.

This year Providence had their lowest test takers since the early 80's...obviously something is wrong, and not improving.

The wrestling program has talent, but they cannot reach that level of Marmion, Oak Park, Montini, etc. I do wish Reynolds well, as there is no finer coach out there in my opinion.

The McGrath situation may have hurt numbers, though he was never convicted of any wrong doing. I remember him being a great person, and never detected anything inappropriate between us, as I spent a lot of time with him, and always valued his advice.

Catholic schools are in decline, and this is unlikely to change. Providence has the added burden of having such nice public schools in their backyard as alternative options.

I do not see a rebound happening, but anything is possible.

Good luck Celtics!

You are correct forgot about Lincolway schools pulling the numbers down. I'm not quite sure if the atheistic view is taking over or its just media hype. It seems Izzy continues to recruit talent sure helps that he has the best club training IMO. But he seems to be such a great motivator. Almost seemed as Providence was just trying to grow based on history vs recruiting. The decline of Celtic Elite sure didn't help the wrestling porgram.

[Provi72]

As an old Provi Grad ('72).....

As a former wrestler and football player at Providence, it is saddening to see the school collapsing, but I do not think it is entirely self-inflicted by Catholic priests.

There is no question that the openings of Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West has decimated the football program. This was once a program considered among the finest in Illinois--now they are not even the greatest in Will County. Numbers are down, down, down...my freshmen squad had close to (90) and less than a handful were gone by senior year, as we never had a issue with transfers.They barely have (40) now, and many will have transferred by senior year. The once-great coaching is pathetic at best.

12,000 tutition and high Will County taxes are not helping. Atheism is rising among Americans, so many are not willing to spend that much for a high school education that you will never put on your resume after college--nobody cares what high school you graduated from in the business world. Not relevant to anything.

This year Providence had their lowest test takers since the early 80's...obviously something is wrong, and not improving.

The wrestling program has talent, but they cannot reach that level of Marmion, Oak Park, Montini, etc. I do wish Reynolds well, as there is no finer coach out there in my opinion.

The McGrath situation may have hurt numbers, though he was never convicted of any wrong doing. I remember him being a great person, and never detected anything inappropriate between us, as I spent a lot of time with him, and always valued his advice.

Catholic schools are in decline, and this is unlikely to change. Providence has the added burden of having such nice public schools in their backyard as alternative options.

I do not see a rebound happening, but anything is possible.

Good luck Celtics!

...I am sad to hear this status. I understand there was some terrible **** that was alleged (and assumed to be true) about sexual abuse. As a now-former Catholic and Altar Boy, I am disgusted by the Catholic Church and its tolerance of sexual abuse of vulnerable young people.

As a Provi Grad who fought during the late 1960's to keep Provi open when the Diocese wanted to shut it down, and then watching its resurrection over the decades since, I was proud of what we accomplished back in those days. You mentioned you were a Provi football player and wrestling. Provi first fielded a varsity football team my freshman year (they sucked) and first fielded a wrestling program (they sucked) my senior year. Watching these programs grow and succeed over the years has been a lifelong source of pride for me and my brother ('74).

So, sorry to hear my alma mater is in tatters, but that was a direct result of the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal. And of course you are right about the Lincoln-Way system draining Provi...it's true. Kids I went to school with came as far away as Minooka and Plainfield, which are now big public schools. Wrestlers came from far and wide to wrestle for Provi, but they have too many options from other quality programs in the area to spend $12K or whatever tuition, etc is this days.

Too bad. Hope for better days.

[Southside05]

...I am sad to hear this status. I understand there was some terrible **** that was alleged (and assumed to be true) about sexual abuse. As a now-former Catholic and Altar Boy, I am disgusted by the Catholic Church and its tolerance of sexual abuse of vulnerable young people.

As a Provi Grad who fought during the late 1960's to keep Provi open when the Diocese wanted to shut it down, and then watching its resurrection over the decades since, I was proud of what we accomplished back in those days. You mentioned you were a Provi football player and wrestling. Provi first fielded a varsity football team my freshman year (they sucked) and first fielded a wrestling program (they sucked) my senior year. Watching these programs grow and succeed over the years has been a lifelong source of pride for me and my brother ('74).

So, sorry to hear my alma mater is in tatters, but that was a direct result of the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal. And of course you are right about the Lincoln-Way system draining Provi...it's true. Kids I went to school with came as far away as Minooka and Plainfield, which are now big public schools. Wrestlers came from far and wide to wrestle for Provi, but they have too many options from other quality programs in the area to spend $12K or whatever tuition, etc is this days.

Too bad. Hope for better days.

I know they had a great team last year. How are they doing this year? I heard last year the wrestling program was on its way back to the top.