The Catholic School Beefcake of Arkansas

"Catholic High's Bass Fishing Club Hooks Boys, Fathers."

One of the most unlikely headlines I've ever seen.  Why would a Catholic high school even have a fishing club?

More unlikely: the high school is in Arkansas.

There are Catholic high schools in Arkansas?



Five of them, actually: Mt. Saint Mary Academy (girls), Subiaco Academy (boys), Sacred Heart School in Morrelton (co-ed), and St. Joseph School in Conway (co-ed). Many others have closed, as the Catholic school enrollment decreased from its peak of 15,000 in the 1960s  to less than 7,000 today.


1. The Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock was founded in 1930. It's located on Father Tribou Street, next to a shopping plaza with a Dillard's, and down the street from Hall High.  It currently has 700 students.  Gil Gerard, the beefcake star of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, is an alumnus.

It's open to students of all religions. Here a Muslim student and president of the Rotary Club prays with his father.

In addition to Rotary Club and Bass Fishing, Catholic High has clubs for Chess, Ham Radio, Political Awareness, and Bee Keeping.

The MCJ (Marine Corps Junior) ROTC Students were National Champions in Physical Fitness in 2012.







I never heard of the MCJROTC, and I didn't know that Physical Fitness had championships.

Wait -- Bee Keeping?

Sports include swimming, wrestling, tennis, and golf.    Here's the school's top swimmer, photographed in a suit instead of a swim suit.

Catholic High is a little low on beefcake photos, so on to the next school.

2. Subiaco Academy has both day and boarding programs.  It offers the Benet Club, for boys to interact with Benedictine Monks; the Order of the Blue Arrow, which is responsible for giving campus tours; and the Hunting Club, where boys go out into the woods for several days with their very scary advisor to shoot things.







I don't know what's going on here, but I wish their dates had revealed what's under the superhero t-shirts.

No beefcake photos.

Seriously, a Bee Keeping Club?





3. Sacred Heart has a team named the Rebels, which seems rather Confederate for a school founded in the south in 1879.  It has only a few student clubs: Quiz Bowl, Student Council, Beta (meet a Benedictine Monk).

Here's a student athlete.  A basketball player.  What happened to the swimmers and wrestlers?  Or at least a cross-country runner?











4. St. Joseph School in Conway is also peculiarly lacking in beefcake photos. 

4 out of 4 turned fruitless. It must be the stress of being a Catholic oasis in a sea of Southern Baptists.

So here are some non-Catholic Fort Smith swimmers flexing underwater.




And the Beekeeping Club.