Holy Trinity suspends its football program for the season

There will be no football program at Holy Trinity High School this fall. Principal Brian Colomban sent out a letter Wednesday morning informing parents that the program will be suspended.

Cain Mack, the newly hired varsity football coach at the Hicksville school, had informed administration earlier this month that he would be resigning from the position effective immediately.

“This choice was not an easy one for him, and while it was not what we expected we respect his decision and wish him well moving forward,” Colomban wrote in the letter. “As a result, we have made the very difficult decision to suspend our football program for the 2026-2027 school year. We will continue to offer football-specific strength and conditioning sessions in the brand-new athletic training area of our weight room for all that wish to participate throughout the fall season.”

The plan moving forward is for the school’s director of athletics, Matthew Sloan, to search for a head coach and establish a junior varsity team for the 2027-2028 school year. A varsity team would not be in place until the 2028-2029 school year, meaning a two-year hiatus from the varsity level.

Last year’s program had 53 players on the varsity and junior varsity roster and lost 11 seniors to graduation.

Neither Mack nor Holy Trinity administrators responded to calls for comment.

“This is very disappointing news for all of Holy Trinity and its proud alumni,” said Scott Miller, a 1991 alumnus who was a three-sport athlete at the school. “Former football coach Tony Mascia, whom I admire and respect, built this program from the foundation up with all his blood, sweat and tears. My two sons are also graduates of Holy Trinity and proud alumni. My third son recently completed his freshman year and loves the school for the academics and the football program. He found football to be a gamechanger in his life under [former] coach [Gino] Tassone’s leadership.”

This would have been 60 years of football at Holy Trinity, which started in 1967, and the 59th year of football at the varsity level.

The Titans earned back-to-back CSHFL AA-2 championships in 2021 and 2022. They had a 10-0 record in 2021 and were 9-1 in 2022. But they went 4-6 in 2023 and 1-10 in 2024 before going 7-4 in 2025.

“We received notification today that Holy Trinity would not field a football team this fall,” CHSFL president Chris Hardardt said. “We’re not revamping the schedule. If a school was scheduled to play Holy Trinity, they will receive a bye. Our schedule is done. Teams can certainly try to find an opponent to fill their schedule, but finding an available opponent will be difficult at this late juncture.”

In a letter to Holy Trinity parents, alumni, students, coaches and supporters on Thursday, athletic director Matthew Sloan wrote that the decision came only after “exploring every possible option.”

“The reality is that we simply did not have enough student-athletes committed to safely field a varsity football team. Football requires not only enough players, but enough experienced players to practice and compete safely throughout an entire season. While this decision is incredibly painful, the safety of our students had to remain our highest priority.”

Sloan added: “I also believe it is important to acknowledge the coaching change that was made this past December. That decision was not made lightly either. It came after extensive reflection and many difficult conversations regarding the direction of our football program. As Athletic Director, I have a responsibility not only to build successful athletic teams, but to ensure every program reflects the mission, values, and standards of Holy Trinity High School. There were significant internal concerns regarding the culture surrounding our football program and conduct within our school that led us to believe a change in leadership was necessary. Those decisions were difficult, but they were made because we believed they were in the best long-term interest of our students and our institution.”