DOWN, SET ... NOT YET; DESPITE RAPID GROWHT, NOTRE DAME HAS NO IMMEDIATE PLANS TO START A FOOTBALL PROGRAM

The landscape of Notre Dame sports is changing quite rapidly -- literally and figuratively.

With the school to add track and field for the 2002 season, construction is currently underway on a new track, which should fit quite nicely next to the new baseball field, which sits adjacent to the new softball field, which is situated next to a pair of new soccer fields. Put simply, it's looking like a complex.

There's no doubt it's a booming time at Notre Dame Regional High School, which is now in its fourth year at its relocated position on the west side of Cape Girardeau. School enrollment is climbing to record heights every year, sports programs are sprouting almost annually and facilities, paid entirely from booster donations, are popping up everywhere.

The student body is 450 students this fall, double the enrollment the school had just 11 years ago when Notre Dame athletic director Chris Janet began employment. Currently a Class 2A school, Notre Dame will join the ranks of 3A in the 2002-03 school year.

Over the past five years the school has added girls soccer, cross country, swimming and now track and field.

The looming question

All of this leads to the looming question: When will the school begin a football program?

"I walk gently on that topic," said Janet, "because at this point there are no immediate plans for football. A lot of people like to talk about it and ask if it's going to happen. There are no immediate plans to do that. When you have a vision, as athletic director, as you look at the long-range growth plan, you have to look at football as a possibility. Right now there are no formal committees or meetings for that. At this point it's casual discussion and that's it."

Study stage

Notre Dame principal Brother David Migliorino echoes the school's current stance.

"We're in a study stage," said Migliorino. "We've done surveys and asked students and no decision could be reached. At this point we can't say."

Migliorino added student enrollment would have to continue to increase for more serious consideration. The school is equipped to handle 550 students. That number could be achieved if the current trend continues. This year's class of 136 freshmen is the largest ever.

"We'll have to see where this growth takes us and take it one step at a time," said Janet. "It has to be the most exciting time with the growth experienced and the support of the administration."

For many years, Notre Dame athletes had a limited menu, but the school excelled in boys basketball and baseball, winning state championships in each. Boys soccer was added in 1987 and boys golf began in 1993. The current sports program growth is part of a five-year plan implemented by Janet. Four sports have been added since 1997.

Janet said the school periodically takes surveys from students and incoming students to evaluate the interest in particular sports. Feasibility, both potential athletes and financial, are then considered.

More demanding sport

With the exception of track and field, the recent additions have been relatively low-cost programs.

Football is a much more demanding sport in both manpower and money, but Janet is not ruling it out.

"If you're looking at a 10-year plan, I would definitely foresee it, but I don't make the final approval," he said.

Should the school add football, the field would be placed inside the track.

"It would fit nicely in the middle of that," Janet acknowledged.

In addition to financial blocks, Janet and Migliorino both expressed concerns over the well-being of the other fall sport programs.

"We have an excellent soccer program, and if we ever consider football, you have to look at that and if it will take away from soccer," said Janet. "We've had a lot of success in soccer and we're very proud of that. Some schools elect to stay soccer schools and that might happen with Notre Dame."