Athletics

Upper School Director Scott Phillipps also is USJ's athletic director; Mickey Marley and David Rohm are the athletic coordinators. The Bruins Club is the parent support group for USJ athletics. USJ’s Middle and Upper Schools field 37 teams in 20 different sports.

Sports schedules & results

Click here for any athletic events scheduled for today and during the individual sports seasons. Results are posted after each game.

Upper & Middle School teams

Move to Division II successful

With successful first seasons playing in Division II-A under their belts, Upper School Coaches Mickey Marley and Chris Leonardi view the move as a good one for USJ all around.

“Independent schools basically have the same philosophy,” said Head Football Coach Marley, who made no changes in preparing the football team to face the new competition the change in classification brought to the Bruins schedule. “Now we are working with schools that have like-minded missions. We have a strong commonality in all phases of school, which makes details such as setting schedules easier.”

“Being in Division II, we are competing against schools that are the same size,” said Head Soccer Coach Leonardi. “The biggest change in terms of the soccer program has been the post-season. With only four teams going to the state play-offs rather than eight, it makes it harder to make it to the tournament.”

USJ’s Board voted to move USJ from Division I, where a TSSAA private-school multiplier had USJ playing larger schools, to Division II, comprised of independent schools. USJ, which made the move this school year,?plays in the West District, which includes many schools from Memphis.

Both Marley and Leonardi have heard that other Division II teams and coaching staffs were happy to see USJ come into the classification. “Several other schools’ coaches have said that having USJ in their division has added legitimacy to the Division in our classification,” said Marley.

“As Memphis has a lot of club soccer programs, they have a high level of competition and talent,” said Leonardi. “This gives them a large pool from which to recruit, making the level of play so high.”

“I always felt like it would be a great move all along, and I think we will see more teams come into the division in the next classification period,” said Marley. “Twenty years ago we were playing in the Memphis District, and with the change this year, we have brought our past success to the division.”

Fall/Winter 2009-2010 Sports Wrap Up

Playing in Division II has been successful for many USJ fall sports teams as they advanced through district and regional play to state competition…
• For the first time in many years, the football team advanced to the state championship game. It finished the season with a state runner-up trophy.
• The girls soccer team, which had been advancing to the state tournament for the last several years, advanced again this year and finished in the top four teams in the state.
• Both the boys and girls golf teams, which had previously won state titles, again advanced to state. The boys finished second in the state, while the girls finished fifth.
• The girls cross country team finished second in the state, one of its best finishes in school history.
• The girls volleyball team ended its season with a sub-state loss to Knoxville Webb, who went on to be state runner-up.
• Struggling with playing against much larger schools in Division I-AA, both the boys and the girls basketball teams finished seasons in sub-state games.