Providence Academy Moves to New Sports Conference

Classes are already underway at Providence Academy. While the students have just begun to crack their books open, student athletes have already logged quite a few hours on the field. The new school year brings a big change for one of Plymouth’s private schools as they enter a new sports conference.

“When we started in the Minnesota Christian Athletic Association eight years ago we were one of the smallest schools competing, now we are one of the largest,” Providence Athletic Director Kurt Jaeger said. “It’s time for us to move on.”

The catholic preparatory school, located just off Schmidt Lake Road, will begin this sports season in the Tri-Metro conference, which is comprised mainly of private schools. It’s a change Jaeger says is tied to the schools growing enrollment.

“We have grown so rapidly in the ten years we have been here,” he said. Jaeger has been at the school since the beginning and says in 2001 when the school opened there were 200 students, now the school is home to 900 students K-12.

Of those students, 80 percent of secondary age students at Providence Academy are involved in at least one sport. Senior Katie Nordic is one of them and is excited to finish her high school athletic career in a tougher conference. 

“It means we’ll have stronger competition,” Nordic said.

As a three-sport athlete and captain of the volleyball team Nordic said all of the school’s sports teams are getting bigger and better with each passing year.

“We want to compete against the best and this change will push every athlete to play hard,” she said. “So many students are involved in sports now that it just makes sense that we compete at this new level.”

For many teams, Jaeger believes this will be a seamless transition. 

“We have some really strong sports teams here and I think for most of our athletes this is just a natural progression,” he said. “For others it will take a little getting used to but it will only make our teams better.”

The switch didn’t happen overnight. The school had to petition the conference to gain membership and had to be voted-in to the conference. The process took about two years, but it’s a change Jaeger believes will only strengthen the athleticism of the school.