It’s been a busy summer in the Catholic Youth Ministry offices, which is where CYM athletics coordinator Don Tees has been preparing for the opening of the 2025-26 sports seasons.
Elementary school football teams in the Diocese of Wilmington were allowed to practice as early as Aug. 4 and the other sports a week later ahead of the beginning of competition in early September.
Tees has been focusing on impending action on the field as well as a few initiatives off. Fall sports has gotten its fair share of attention, with opening day quickly approaching.
Football returns looking much the same as in past years, but with one significant change. There are five varsity and five junior varsity teams, the same as last year. For the first time, all regular-season games will be played at Abessinio Stadium in Wilmington. There will be two JV and two varsity games each Sunday, with one team from each level getting a bye week.
Tees said the games will begin at 12:30 p.m. each Sunday, with the last game of the day kicking off around 5:15-5:30 p.m. “rain or shine every week from the first week of September up until the semifinals.”
The start time still gives families time to get to Mass, he noted.
Playing games at Abessinio, on turf, takes field conditions out of the equation in case of weather. In past years, regular-season games have been at Abessinio and Tower Hill School, but the CYM office is consciously trying to align its athletic program with Catholic teaching and values, so they wanted to be at a Catholic-affiliated facility, he said.
“Being around the cross, being around the images that display ministry components, for us is super important,” Tees said.
The championship game, he added, is expected to take place at Saint Mark’s High School.
Co-ed soccer also is part of the fall athletic program, but Tees said 2025 will be the final year for the sport in this format. Beginning with the 2026-27 season, it will be split by gender. Boys will play in the fall, and the girls will compete in the spring.
“One, to align with the rest of Delaware,” Tees said by way of explanation. “Two, to give more opportunities to empowering girls sports within CYM sports. Currently, we don’t have as many girls sports affiliated. We think that this will bring significant interest in girls soccer.”
The other fall sports are girls volleyball, which continues to see an increase in interest and number of teams, and cross country, which Tees said is one of the larger CYM programs in terms of numbers of athletes. Girls volleyball is one of the sports, along with basketball, that has a league for high school students. Tees would like to see that number grow.
“Anybody can play” Catholic Youth Ministry sports, Tees said. When a person registers, he or she is assigned a parish affiliation. Currently, 15 parishes sponsor athletic teams, although there is a chance that the number could increase, he said.
Any parish can field teams in CYM, he continued.
“They don’t have to sponsor every sport,” he said. “All that it takes to get involved is youth participants who are interested in that specific parish and a volunteer or two to coach those kids.”
Parishioners, Catholic school students and community members are all welcome to play as long as they meet eligibility requirements. “If you want to play sports, we will have a place for you.”
The same goes for anyone interested in officiating any of the sports. According to Tees, the organization can accommodate anyone from high school to retirement age who is interested. A section of the CYM athletics website, www.cymsports.com, addresses officials. Virtually all games take place Friday-Sunday.
The website has been redesigned and will have up-to-date schedules, standings, policies, forms and more. The principal CYM website, www.cdowcym.org, has information about all aspects of youth ministry.
Catholic Youth Ministry is a nonprofit organization, so its main focus is not making money, he said.
“We’re here to provide a sports ministry and to provide opportunities for them to play sports at a cost-effective and reasonable price and to give them a great experience,” Tees said.
