Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory School will initiate football program

In a historic announcement, Mario Vasquez, Principal of Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory School in Corpus Christi said the school will initiate a football program beginning with the 2012-13 school year. Vasquez believes that Bishop Garriga will be the first Catholic middle school ever to offer regulation football.

The team will be called "The Crusaders," and their first game will be Sept. 11 against Metro Prep at the John Paul II stadium with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Leo Galindo, a long-time middle school head coach at Cunningham Middle School in Corpus Christi, will be The Crusaders head coach. The initial schedule of games will pit The Crusaders against the middle schools of the Corpus Christi Independent School District, including Hass, Cullen, South Park and Cunningham.

According to Vasquez, the decision to field a football team was influenced by the fact that Blessed John Paul II High School has an ongoing four-year football program and, at the request of many parents, it was time to establish a feeder program that would benefit both schools. The addition of football will round out the existing athletic program at the school which includes basketball, volleyball, track and tennis.