Bonner-Prendie and O'Hara's football programs are moving up, making parents and alumni furious

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A shake-up is going on among some football programs in the Philadelphia Catholic League.

But some parents and alumni in the community are not happy about it.

Some parents at Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast and Cardinal O’Hara are furious with a decision that “moves up” both schools’ football teams into a division that has some of the best high school athletes around. They say this is a safety issue for their children in what can be an already dangerous game.

“This is a killer,” Dave Connolly said. “It’s going to change the whole aspect of the entire Catholic league and football in this area.”

Folks like Connolly, of Havertown, think the Philadelphia Catholic League decision made in early November that places O’Hara and Bonner-Prendie into a higher division is an unfair and unsafe match for his son, who is a linebacker for the O’Hara Lions.

“We just got back on track,” Connolly said. “And they want to take us and feed us to the wolves. It’s outrageous. It’s nuts. They want to move us up to teams double the size of us. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Connolly says “double the size” because wealthier programs like St. Joseph’s Prep and La Salle College High School can attract more athletes — giving them a bigger pool to choose from — which can mean a higher rate of talent and size.

Even former coaches like O’Hara’s Bob McGowan say the teams will be outmatched and he’s concerned about safety issues.

“It’s not fair, it’s just not fair, we’re a 4A program and we’re up against a 6A program that demolished every team in the PIAA playoffs this year,” McGowan said.

Enrollment of male students is smaller at schools like Bonner-Prendie and O’Hara, which have played similar-sized schools in the 4A division.

St. Joe’s Prep, which plays in the 6A division, is considered to be a national football powerhouse with more male students enrolled.  They’re also back-to-back state champions.

“They are up against a pro team, believe it or not. The Prep is like a Division I football program,” McGowan said.

Enrollment numbers from the PIAA show La Salle sits at the top with 914, The Prep enrolls 719, Father Judge has 612 and Roman Catholic enrolls 540. Bonner and O’Hara are more than 200 students less — at around 330 each.

Sources with knowledge of how the decision was made say enrollment numbers were key in deciding to move the schools up. To parents, it doesn’t make sense.

“The only way you move up in a division is the number of boys and if you were in a state championship, and we don’t fit either of those categories, Bonner or O’Hara,” Connolly said.

Kathy Murray, of Drexel Hill and president of the football boosters club at Bonner-Prendie, says she would still let her son play football, but her focus would be on his safety.

“My son is an offensive lineman so going against someone twice his size is a concern for us,” Murray said. “I know it is a concern and I would be sitting there on the side of my seat nervous the entire game.”

So how did this happen? Who proposed what’s being called a football division realignment?

It went to a vote in early November before the Philadelphia Catholic League board.

The vote overwhelmingly favored moving Bonner-Prendie and O’Hara up. People within the two schools told CBS Philadelphia the decision left them dumbfounded.

CBS News Philadelphia checked the meeting minutes and they showed there was little discussion.

“Nobody had time to react,” Steve Phillips, a Bonner alumnus, said.

The Archdiocese provided CBS Philadelphia a statement indicating they were aware and they spoke to the parents to the extent they could, but that they were not involved in the vote at all.

But parents — they’re still involved — and are talking about taking legal action — to what they call “evening” the playing field.