From the Joplin Globe: McAuley, College Heights athletes to participate together By Richard Polen

Students at McAuley Catholic and College Heights Christian schools will be allowed to participate together in certain sports beginning next fall.

McAuley will open its football and girls soccer programs to student athletes from College Heights, said McAuley Athletic Director Chelsea Holmes on Monday.

On the other hand, student athletes at McAuley will be allowed to participate in the boys’ soccer and tennis programs at College Heights. Both arrangements have been approved by the Missouri State High School Activities Association.

“Now we can offer any sport that any student would pretty much want to do,” Holmes said.

The idea for opening the sports programs to students from each school began when McAuley saw a decline in the number of participants in its football and soccer programs, Holmes said.

“Last year, we started talking about this at the junior high due to we didn’t have the numbers we would need to have in high school,” Holmes said. “(Football) is such a community involvement for us. It’s not just high school parents, but junior high and elementary parents at our games.”

College Heights Athletic Director Charlie Williams, whose son is the head football coach at McAuley, also welcomed the news.

“It’s a great opportunity to play football and girls soccer,” Williams said. “We can’t offer football due to the expense. We have five who played in a cooperative level with them in junior high.

“The number will be much larger for football than for soccer, but it still opens the door for guys at the sixth-grade level,” Williams said. “We have quite a few kids who are playing football at the YMCA level.

“It’s good for both schools,” he said. “I’m excited for both programs.”