By: Scott Bentley | Macomb Chronicle | Published April 20, 2026
MACOMB TOWNSHIP — Lutheran North high school is leaving the Catholic High School League and joining the Blue Water Area Conference at the start of the 2026-27 school year, according to a press release by the CHSL.
The announcement comes following Detroit Country Day School’s addition to the CHSL and Algonac high school’s decision to leave the BWAC and join the Macomb Area Conference.
“We are really excited to be joining the Blue Water Conference,” said Jessica Stange, Lutheran North’s athletic director. “It’s going to be exciting to play some local competition, make some new rivalries and be a part of a conference that locally, and statewide, has produced some really great teams.”
Playing against other schools in the community was the biggest factor for the switch. In the Catholic league, Lutheran North was traveling all over the state to compete, whereas in the BWAC the school will have far less travel time.
“Being able to play games closer to where we’re at… and our students are able to stay in school more, which is very important to us,” Stange explained. “We’re just really excited to face more local area schools.”
The school is proud of the way that it competed in the Catholic league for many years and fully expects to maintain its competitiveness in the BWAC.
“We have always competed very well in the Catholic league… it’s not that we were looking from a competitive standpoint to make a change,” Stange said. “I’m looking forward to us continuing to be competitive in our new league and giving our student athletes an opportunity to compete for championships.”
The CHSL also made it a point to state that the relationship with Lutheran North is a great one, and that there are no negative feelings towards the move.
“Lutheran North has been an outstanding member of the Catholic High School League,” said CHSL Director Mike Evoy in a press release. “Their student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and community have represented the CHSL with integrity and class.”
In the CHSL’s press release, the league extended its best wishes to Lutheran North. Evoy was named the CHSL’s director earlier this year and has now already seen additions and subtractions to the league.
“While we will miss having Lutheran North as part of our league, we respect their decision and wish them nothing but continued success as they begin this new chapter in the Blue Water Athletic Conference,” Evoy stated in the release.
Lutheran North shared the same sentiments from the CHSL.
“We are leaving on great terms with the league,” Stange said. “We had a great experience and have nothing but respect for the league and Michael Evoy… We are going to miss it… but we’re very appreciative of the support they showed us.”
The addition for the Blue Water Area Conference keeps the conference at eight teams, which has been the size of the BWAC since its start in 2003.
“We were looking for a school to fill that void to get us back to eight schools,” said Richmond Athletic Director and Blue Water Conference President Preston Treend. “It’s historically what we’ve been and is kind of how all of our schedules are built.”
Lutheran North’s addition also makes the BWAC more competitive. One example will be in football, where a team’s playoff points are partially determined by the division that its opponents are in. Algonac is a Division 6 school, while Lutheran North is in Division 4.
“Bringing in a D-4 is a huge boost for all of our football programs,” Treend said. “Competitively, they’re really solid in pretty much everything they offer… and they have almost all of the sports that all of the rest of us offer. I think they’re a really good fit for us.”
Lutheran North will remain a member of the Catholic High School League through the end of the 2025-26 school year.