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ST. THOMAS HIGH SCHOOL
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HOUSTON, TX
INSIDE EAGLE ATHLETICS
Basil Bowl Basilian Brotherhood
For the second consecutive
year, Eagle football embraces
a mid-season match-up that
mixes competition with
cultural exchange and authentic
Basilian community.
St. Thomas will
stage a historic
home meeting with
fellow Basilian St.
Michael’s College
School from
Toronto on October
10, 2015 at Hotze
Field inside Granger
Stadium.
The Basil Bowl
kickoff encounter
follows STH’s first-
ever international
travel in establishing
the series in 2014
and is the first
of three athletic
competitions
involving the
brother schools in
Houston within a
two-month window.
SMCS’s powerhouse basketball
program returns to defend its
title in the annual STH Classic
in November while SMCS
varsity soccer visits at the same
time to play three games.
The high profile football
weekend requires
a significant
focus shift for
Athletic Director
Mike Netzel
and Athletic
Coordinator /
Soccer Coach
Kenny Martin ‘01
after coordinating
logistics for the
64-member STH
traveling party last
October.
“We’ve been in the
planning phases
for months. It’s
so much more
than arranging
accommodations
for our guests,”
Netzel said. “We’ll
likely have a
welcome rally from our entire
student body on campus, a
pregame event the Friday night
before with
entertainment,
then a post-
game Texas-
style barbecue
spread. We’ll
treat this like
a postseason
bowl game
and show
our brothers
from Toronto
what Houston
hospitality
is all about
while keeping
the weekend
in a proper
perspective.”
Principal Fr.
Patrick Fulton,
CSB owns the rare perspective
of experience between both
competing sides, spending a
decade at SMCS for his longest
single assignment at one
location. From 2000-2010 he
was not only a faculty member,
but also coached swimming
and spent four years as team
chaplain for the legendary
St. Michael’s Majors hockey
program, which competed in
the Ontario Hockey League.
Fr. Fulton knows that SMCS
values the opportunity to again
challenge a football program
that is from the tradition-
soaked state of Texas and has
won 30 of 35 games since
2012, including a 59-7 victory
in Toronto in the series opener.
“the emphasis
here to
be on the
interaction
between
students,
retaining
that spirit of
brotherhood
and at the
same time
providing
a special
experience
which they
will take back
with them.”
-Fr. Fulton