1952 SAL Formation

Top O' Morn, by Buster Haas

Eugene Linse, an ambitious young man who masterminds Concordia's athletic program, both high school and junior college, looked to the future Tuesday and smiled at what he saw.

Linse is president of the Southwest Academic League of Texas, a full-fledged statewide band of private schools, and he was speaking of a subject dear to his heart.

"Within 10 years," Linse said. "I wouldn't be at all surprised to see every private school in the state joined in this conference."

It's a modest endeavor as of now but the league, split by two regions and three districts, blankets the state, if somewhat thinly.

Region 2 is composed of schools from Dallas, Fort Worth, Gainesville and Texarkana, while Region 1 encompasses schools from San Antonio, Taylor, San Marcos and Austin.

Notable, by absence, for the present, are Houston schools, bu Linse has a word for that, too.

"In September I've been invited to appear before a meeting of Houston privte schools to discuss our plans," Linse continued, "and we will offer them a complete district, as San Antonio has, for 1953."

That would increase te districts by one and possibly cause a re-shuffle of regions, Houston and San Antonio schools being in one region, while schools from Central Texas would move over to the other region.

The new league formation has adopted exactly the same rules of the University Interscholastic League, with one exception -- the transfer rule.

But the semester rules, age limit and the rest are included in the league's constitution.

There will be no spring football training and no fall practice until Sept. 1, no basketball practice before Nov. 15, no track practice before Feb. 15, and no baseball workouts before March 15.

Briefly, the new league setuip is almost a carbon copy of the University Interscholastic League.

Even to the same trophies presented UIL champions.

"This gives the private school boys a new incentive," Linse said.  "Having a state champion will really mean something to the boys."

Winners of Districts 1 and 2 will play for the regional championship, the winner to play the Region 2 champion for the state football title on Dec. 5.

The state track and field meet will be Feb. 27-28, and tennis, golf and swimming will be decided in a tournament May 9.

The state baseball tournament will be May 16.

There will be no post-season games, Linse added.

In the event an ambitious school outside the conference questions the state champion, that school will be told to joi up, or to put it bluntly, shut up.

In the event you wonder where Central Catholic's perennially powerful Buttons are, why they are in San Antonio, league orphans.

Cental Catholic won championships in football, basketball and track during the latest seasons with an enrollment of 600 students.

Peacock, for example, has never won any type of athletic contest from the Buttons.

So the league restricts participation to schools with 350 male students or less.

In the case of Concordia, much less.  The little Lutheran school, who always made a good showing against the superior masses of Central Catholic, has a total enrollment of less than 80 students.

Source:  The Austin American, Wednesday, June 11, 1952, Page 21