About Girls' Greater Catholic League
In the world of high school athletics, the Girls' Greater Catholic League (GGCL) is a special organization. Five all-girls Catholic schools—Mount Notre Dame, Mercy McAuley, Seton, St. Ursula Academy, and Ursuline Academy—come together for intense competition in a variety of sports under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
The Greater Catholic League, its coed equivalent, was founded in 1970, but the GGCL existed before it. This devotion to girls' sports speaks loudly about the league's goal of using sports to empower young women.
But there's more to the GGCL than just winning and losing. It's all about building a sense of belonging and sportsmanship that are based on common Catholic principles. In order to produce well-rounded players who thrive on and off the field, the league places a strong emphasis on character development in addition to athletic ability.
With many state titles and collegiate-caliber talent produced by its member schools, the GGCL has a long history of sports accomplishments. Beyond the medals, though, the league helps athletes from many institutions develop a sense of sisterhood and comradery.
Young women may push themselves to the limit, make friends, and develop personally through the GGCL, which offers a platform for anything from shouts during basketball games to cross-country runners encouraging one another to the finish line.
Thus, keep in mind that the Girls' Greater Catholic League is more than simply a sports league the next time you hear about it. It's evidence of the ability of religion, rivalry, and community to mold young ladies into winners in the ring and in life.
History
In 1966 the first league competition began among a group of girls' Catholic high schools in the area. Extramural games in basketball and volleyball were played among the schools in the next couple of years. Few records were kept and the league was loosely organized by some coaches and students.
Beginning with the 2013–14 school year, the league experienced a restructuring. The co-ed schools formerly in the GGCL began competing in the co-ed division (separate from the GGCL), while the co-ed division schools continued to play games against GGCL schools in a renamed Girls' Greater Catholic League. Previously, GGCL schools were split into two divisions: the GGCL Gray consisted of the co-ed schools, while the Scarlet consisted of the all female schools. The boys from the co-ed member schools compete in the GCL.
In 2018, Mother of Mercy High School merged with McAuley High School to become Mercy McAuley High School, bringing the league's membership to five schools.
The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute has about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They also started many education and health care facilities around the world.
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or archdiocese, of the Roman Catholic Church that covers many dioceses throughout the State of Ohio in the United States.
The Summit Country Day School is a private, Roman Catholic, PreK–12 co-educational school located in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2021, enrollment is 1,055 students from ages 18 months through 12th grade. Although located within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the school is run by the board of trustees and head of school.
Mount Notre Dame High School (MND) is a Catholic, college-preparatory high school for young women. The school is affiliated with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur as a part of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
Ursuline Academy is a four-year college-preparatory independent girls’ Catholic high school in Blue Ash, Ohio, United States. As of 2017, 658 students from all over Greater Cincinnati are enrolled in the school, representing 50 different ZIP codes.
Stephen T. Badin High School, is a Catholic high school of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati school system, serving grades nine through twelve in Hamilton, Ohio, United States. It is a comprehensive high school which admits students of all levels of ability.
The Catholic High School League (CHSL) is a school athletic conference based in Detroit, Michigan, led by director Victor Michaels. Most member schools are also members of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), the governing body for Michigan scholastic sports, except for the five schools from Toledo, which are members of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Unlike many similar leagues, the CHSL governs secondary, middle, and elementary sports for most of the parochial schools in the Detroit area. Most league schools are Catholic, but there are other religious denominations as well. Every school in the CHSL is a private school. In 2019, the CHSL council voted to rename the AB/ Division I/II championship to the Bishop division championship, and the CD/ Division III/IV championship to the Cardinal Division championship.
Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School is a private, co-educational, center-city, Catholic high school. It is located in downtown Dayton, in the U.S. state of Ohio, and is owned and operated by the Society of Mary and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. It is named after Blessed William Joseph Chaminade and St. Julie Billiart.
The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some of the schools are coeducational institutions, the conference only supports athletics for male teams.
Mercy McAuley High School is an all-girls Catholic high school in the College Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, it is one of five all-girls high schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati, enrolling young women from all over the Cincinnati area and parts of Indiana. It is designated a National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education. Mercy McAuley formed from the 2018 merger of Mother of Mercy High School and McAuley High School and is located at the former McAuley campus.
Seton High School is a parochial all-female, college-preparatory high school in the Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
McAuley High School was an all-girls Catholic high school in Toledo, Ohio. It was named for Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy. It began classes in 1958 and was one of three all-girls Catholic high schools in the city, the other two being Notre Dame Academy and St. Ursula Academy.
Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School was a private, Roman Catholic high school in the Buena Vista neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It was located in and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami.
Notre Dame School is an American private, Catholic secondary school for girls, located in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.
Notre Dame Regional Secondary is a co-ed Catholic Secondary school, under the administration of Catholic Independent Schools Vancouver Archdiocese (CISVA) school board inn Canada. The school participates in sporting events under the name of the "Jugglers", with the team colours of blue, white and silver.
This is a list of high school athletic conferences in the Southwest Region of Ohio, as defined by the OHSAA. Because the names of localities and their corresponding high schools do not always match and because there is often a possibility of ambiguity with respect to either the name of a locality or the name of a high school, the following table gives both in every case, with the locality name first, in plain type, and the high school name second in boldface type. The school's team nickname is given last.
