For generations of Pacifica families, the gym at St. Peter Catholic Church has been more than a place to play basketball.
“I’ve grown up with St. Peter’s basketball,” said Mike Herold, a Pacifica resident. “Some of my best sports moments growing up —now being a coach of my two sons — have taken place in that gym.”
It’s where children pulled on their first jersey, where parents watched their sons and daughters discover competition, and where former players eventually returned as coaches.
That tradition is now on hold.
St. Peter’s suspended its CYO boys basketball program for the 2026-27 season, the church announced Sept. 3 in a letter to the parish community, citing unsuccessful efforts to reach an agreement with the Catholic Youth Organization after changes to CYO eligibility requirements.
The decision has left families searching for answers.
Families and players’ displeasure flowed through the church doors when roughly 40-50 people appeared at Sunday mass on Sept. 13 wearing their green St. Peter’s Celtics jerseys and gear.
“We are confident that under new athletic leadership, St. Peter’s athletic program will resume its partnership with CCCYO for the 2027-2028 season and thrive once again,” St. Peter’s Rev. Jerome Foley said in a statement to the community.
Last season, 253 third-through eighth-graders participated in St. Peter’s basketball program, which fielded more than 20 teams. The boys season was scheduled to begin in November.
Athletic leadership was equipped with decades of experience
In many ways, Johnny Harrington’s life has revolved around sports.
The 42-year-old Pacifica native is a familiar name in local sports circles, having spent two decades immersed in athletics. His lengthy resume reflects a chameleon-like versatility, shifting from coaching football at Terra Nova to serving on the boards of Pacifica Cages and Pacifica American Little League and working as a Division I basketball referee.
Throughout all those stints, he’s remained a constant staple on the sideline, coaching the St. Peter’s Celtics. There’s history — he once donned the deep, vibrant green uniforms himself during the 1990s and his own children later followed suit.
“The reason why I do this is to create memories for the kids who aren’t going to play high school sports,” Harrington said. “These are the only moments they have. They love wearing the jersey.”
When the opportunity to become St. Peter’s athletic director came up in February, Harrington didn’t flinch in accepting. Michaela Christensen, Harrington’s sidekick, joined him as assistant athletic director.
A decades-long volunteer with St. Peter’s basketball, Christensen has a resume with plenty of mileage of its own: former Terra Nova Booster Club president and flag football coach, former AYSO board member, and current Local 1481 Education Union board member.
In their roles, Harrington and Michaela were involved in several meetings with the parish advisory council, led by Foley.
Foley leads the parish advisory council and has served as St. Peter’s pastor since June 2014. Foley, 68, grew up in San Francisco’s Sunset District, attended St. Gabriel’s Elementary and entered the seminary before being ordained in 1984.
In the dozen years since he arrived, parishioners have described Foley’s leadership style as “old school.”
Harrington and Christensen described Foley as difficult to reach during their tenure. Harrington said he never had Foley’s phone number or email address and that the two met approximately three times between February and July.
The Peninsula Buzz contacted St. Peter and Foley and asked to discuss the athletic program’s suspension, the CYO eligibility changes, the athletic directors’ positions, the program’s finances and the gymnasium repairs. Neither Foley nor a church representative responded before publication.
“Since Father has taken over, he’s not too big on the extras,” Christensen said.
Christensen pointed to the disappearance of several parish activities, including the Men’s Club, Women’s Club and Sunday pancake breakfasts. St. Peter’s website still lists a 55-and-over social club, holiday boutiques and rummage sales among its activities.
CYO made some changes
The dispute began with a change that came from outside St. Peter’s.
Since its founding years, CYO San Francisco has allowed players to participate in local programs based on where they live and attend school, with eligibility generally tied to the city and neighborhood served by the respective program. During the offseason, CYO alerted programs about a possible shift in those previous requirements, and followed suit by officially enacting the changes in early July.
As a result, players must now be enrolled in religious studies at St. Peter’s or be a paying member of the Boys and Girls Club of Pacifica — the latter would add another $50 membership fee on top of the existing cost of the basketball program.
The rules adjustment forced parish leadership and their athletic department to sit down and convene to establish a concrete plan for how to move forward with the change. Harrington says when he presented St. Peter’s with the option of requiring players to sign up for the Boys and Girls Club of Pacifica, Foley wasn’t in favor — nobody could afford the increase, he argued.
“He questioned what the Boys and Girls Club was,” Harrington said. “He’s never heard of it before.”
It was back to the drawing board, and the athletic committee sent a survey to poll 250-300 families about a possible price increase. According to Harrington and Christensen, 97% of respondents supported the option and wouldn’t mind a spike in prices. Some families even offered to sponsor a scholarship-type fund for those who couldn’t afford the increase.
“Even with a price increase, we were going to get a lot of people to play,” Christensen said.
When the athletic committee brought the survey results back to Foley, Christensen said he rejected the proposal.
“We said, ‘Hey, the community is willing to do this. That’s how important it is to them,’” she said. “He said, ‘Absolutely not. I told you that I don’t like that CYO was forcing this on us. I don’t like that they’re forcing everyone to pay.’”
According to Harrington and Christensen, Foley reluctantly said he would think about it.
St. Peter’s suspends the program
A week went by, and crickets —the two St. Peter’s athletic directors hadn’t heard any information about the program’s future. After two weeks, Foley emailed the parish community on Sept. 3 to announce the suspension of the athletic program for the 2026-2027 season.
The statement also referenced the church leadership’s desire to move forward with different athletic management in preparation for restarting the programs next year.
“While this news is disappointing for our St. Peter Community, we have already begun the search for a new athletic director with the support of CCCYO leadership,” the statement said.
Harrington and Christensen stated they learned their tenure with the program had ended through the parishwide announcement rather than a direct conversation with Foley.
Christensen said neither received a formal notice explaining they had been removed from their positions.
“That struck me in the wrong way,” Harrington said. “Don’t point the finger that we’re not having the season because of me. That’s exactly what that email basically said.”
The announcement was later posted to St. Peter’s Facebook page. The post was subsequently removed after commenters criticized the decision.
Harrington and Christensen also said Foley has indicated that he would prefer the next athletic director to be Catholic.
The two former athletic leaders said they were surprised by that preference, noting that their children were baptized at St. Peter’s and that Harrington was married in a Catholic church.
Could financial issues be holding St. Peter’s back?
The financial picture raises other questions.
Christensen said St. Peter’s CYO basketball generated more than $30,000 for the church over the past three years.
“The program pays for itself,” Christensen said. “If it is a financial reason, it’s not because of the program.”
The suspension of the program — even if it’s resumed next season— could prove to be costly in the long run.
“It’s going to shrink the program,” Christensen said. “People are going to find other places to play. People are going to find other things to do, and it’s going to make it even harder for it to be at the capacity it is now. We’re one of the bigger programs in CYO.”
Foley announced on Sept. 15 that the entire gymnasium roof will be replaced, with construction beginning in the last week of September and concluding in October. The church also plans to repair storage rooms damaged by previous leaks and mold. Foley says the cost will exceed $100,000.
According to public documents, Central Roofing Inc. pulled a permit for the roof work on July 13, with construction finally beginning on Sept. 21. The work is expected to take approximately one to one-and-a-half weeks to complete — weeks before the expected start to the boys’ season, which is set to begin in November.
Harrington and Christensen said they had planned a two-week basketball camp during the summer but were not allowed to hold it in the gym because of the roof.
They said the camp would have qualified St. Peter’s as an official athletic program under CYO rules, potentially eliminating the Boys and Girls Club membership requirement.
The camp did not take place, leaving the 90 children who had registered without a chance to participate.
“We’re not asking them to coach,” Harrington said. “We’re not asking them to mop the floors, or do the scoreboard. We’re asking them to open the gym. Let’s do our best to team up and make it work for the kids.”
What’s next?
The deadline for St. Peter to register with CYO for the boys’ season is Oct. 30.
Despite no longer being at the helm of the program, Harrington remains involved in efforts to change Foley’s mind.
“I don’t think he understands the impact of all these young kids — that he’s actually taking a lot of memories away from,” Harrington said.
Harrington says he knows seven people who could take over as athletic director and plans to send a list to the parish advisory council.
The decision has since moved beyond the parish and into the wider Pacifica community.
An online petition calling on the church to “save St. Peter’s CYO sports programs” had collected nearly 750 signatures as of Sept. 16.
Another protest for current and former families is set for Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. Peter.
“I have faith [the program] will come back,” Harrington said. “I hope Father and St. Peter’s will do the right thing. I don’t want history to repeat itself with all these other programs that got deleted. They will make the right choice for the kids, and the community is there to help them make that decision.”