Jesuit HS of Dallas hosts the Jesuit Dallas Showdown this weekend with eight teams from three states and one Canadian territory.

The tournament will cover two days and three matches in a bracket format, with every opening game featuring a Jesuit school against a non-Jesuit team or a Canadian .

Hosts Jesuit Dallas will face St. Maximillian Kolbe out of Aurora, Ont. Colorado’s Regis Jesuit will take on local power Katy Barbarians. St. Therese of Lisieux out of Richmond Hill, Ont. will face New Orleans Jesuit in the opening round, and Strake Jesuit out of Houston will face the Colorado Springs Grizzlies, one of the top teams in Colorado and defending state champs.

It’s an impressive gathering of teams, and includes several programs that are at the top or close to the top of their leagues.

“What we wanted was to give every team a chance to play a team they’re not familiar with,” said Jesuit Dallas Head Coach Anthony Mattacchione, who will welcome his former coach and a former teammate (now a coach) with the two Canadian teams that visit.

Notes: In case you were wondering, Maximillian Kolbe was a Catholic priest from Poland who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in a Nazi death camp. He was a devotee of St. Therese of Lisieux, a French nun who died just before the 20th Century and who is revered for her devotion to a simple, spiritual life.