Cathedral High School’s Ties To Notre Dame

They share the same mascot, the same fight song – give or take a few words – and even some of the same alum. But the shared traditions at Cathedral High School and the University of Notre Dame run much deeper. Just ask Rudy Forti – yes, Rudy.

“Just to see it and be a part of it, knowing you share some sort of similarities with the actual Notre Dame, it’s pretty interesting for our students,” Forti said.

Forti is the athletic director and head football coach for Cathedral High School. He said his team watches the iconic film, Rudy, at least three or four times a week. But he said the student body also embodies many of the same values and traditions at Notre Dame.

“Just like Notre Dame, we do wear green jerseys at homecoming, so it’s kind of a special occasion that we do bust out here for football. And then there’s the gold helmets,” Forti said. “It’s a sacred thing for them to put that golden helmet on their head. It’s a privilege, not a right to be on the football team and to wear that helmet.”

There’s even a ‘Play Like a Champion’ sign in Cathedral’s locker room. And just like the Fighting Irish at the college level, Cathedral football players make sure to tap it before every single home game.

“There’s just a great sense of community here,” Amanda Murrillo said. The Notre Dame alum now teaches religion at the all-boys high school. “I still remember that last game at the stadium, not wanting to leave. It’s the same thing here with the seniors.”

Murillo said Cathedral students have every much as pride and enthusiasm as students at Notre Dame.

“You can see it at every football game, every basketball game, they all sit together, it’s just a great sense of pride in the school and in each other,” Murillo said.

Of course, there’s also the shared Catholic identity. There is a crucifix inside every single Notre Dame classroom. Crucifix’s adorn many of the classrooms and hallways at Cathedral too. Suprisingly, Cathedral’s Irish identity used to surround its campus.

“It was a predominately irish neighborhood at one time,” Cathedral’s principal, Brother Nick Gonzalez, said. “I know today, it seems crazy, but that’s our history.”

Gonzalez said it’s no wonder so many Cathedral graduates end up at the Notre Dame.

“We’ve been blessed with some outstanding alumni who have been blessed to go to the great Notre Dame.”