OLSH Establishing New Football Program

For the first time in 45 years, a new high school football team is being created by an established western PA school.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School will field a varsity team beginning with the 2010 season.  The school’s board of directors approved the move last week.

Start-up of the OLSH Chargers team will be overseen by former Pitt head football coach Foge Fazio who will help OLSH administrators select and hire a permanent head coach.

“A football program will complement and enrich our already robust line-up of extracurricular and athletic teams,” said President Elizabeth Santillo.

OLSH currently offers 46 after-school activities and 18 sports programs, including a cooperative sport arrangement with nearby Cornell High School for football and boys and girls swimming.

Plans call for OLSH’s newly selected coach to collaborate with Cornell’s coaching staff during the 2009 season and then transition to an independent purple and gold OLSH squad the following season.

The team will play home games at Youthtowne, a non-profit recreation complex in nearby Findlay Township.  Practices will be conducted on the school’s own athletic fields or in the school’s new Angela Activities Center.  Slated to begin construction next month, that $4.4 million facility will feature a state-of-the-art weight room; two gymnasiums; two technology-enabled classrooms; a café-style concession area; locker rooms for teams, coaches and officials; and new athletic administration offices.

Applications for the head coach position will be accepted until April 15.

Founded in 1932, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School is a four-year Catholic co-educational setting where 350 students and their families integrate Gospel values into daily living.   A ministry of the Felician Sisters, OLSH strives to create an academically superior climate in which each student can develop spiritually, intellectually, physically, emotionally and socially. 

For more information, call 412/264-5140.