CCA: Grooming athletes

Some of the most successful football programs across the state of Louisiana – Evangel, John Curtis and Parkview Baptist – include feeder programs that teach children the game of football during their elementary school years so that by the time they get to high school, they already know the majority of playbooks.

Unfortunately, schools in Lafourche, Terrebonne and St. Mary parishes have never had a feeder school, and are often teaching athletes the fundamentals when they reach middle school.

But with the opening of Houma’s Covenant Christian Academy, coach Blyght Wunstell, a former assistant at Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport and former head coach at South Lafourche High School, is following the mold of those schools to bring area athletic competition up a notch.

“(Evangel) is the guidelines that we are following as far as feeder programs,” Wunstell said. “Start off teaching fundamentals, teach them the basics of football, while at the same time, teach them your system and let them learn your system. It’s proven to work.”

Starting from kindergarten, the school will give children the option to be involved with athletics. The younger children will be placed in a flag football league and taught the game early, according to Wunstell.

By second grade, the students who decide to stick with flag football will be able to compete in a recreation league on the same team until they reach sixth grade. At sixth grade, they are eligible to play high school football in the Louisiana Christian School Athletic Association, of which the Covenant Lions are members.

The school, associated with First Baptist Church of Houma, started this school year with grades K-10 and approximately 212 students, and has already grown to 244 students, according to Wunstell.

A growing selection of sports

With a growing student body came a growing demand for sports at Covenant. In response, the school first began boys’ and girls’ basketball and has since added soccer, track and field, baseball, softball, cheerleading and band. Even more sports at Covenant are soon to come, such as volleyball, a dance team and, of course, Wunstell’s specialty, football.

The Lions’ boys’ basketball team is coached by Brent Johns and his assistant football coach, Leon Veal.

Veal came to Covenant Christian by way of Vermilion Catholic, where he served as head basketball coach.

Johns and Veal also coach track and field.

“We’re excited to have him on staff,” Wunstell said of Veal. “He’s a good Christian guy, he’s a good character guy, real good with the kids. Brent started the (basketball) program, so he wants to see his guys who he first started with move out and then he’ll turn it over to Coach Veal.”

On the baseball side, headmaster of the school and First Baptist pastor, Rev. Steve Folmar, will serve as head coach with Wunstell and Southland Hogs coach Joe Teuton serving as assistants.

“(Joe’s) been a tremendous asset to us,” Wunstell said. “We are excited to have a caliber-type coach like him.”

Randy Boquet, South Terrebonne assistant football coach and head soccer coach, will join Wunstell next season as the defensive coordinator.

“We’re going to start football next year,” Wunstell said. “We’ve already started implementing the offensive playbook. We do that during P.E. I’m not really touching the defense right now because we have Randy Boquet coming in. We’re very fortunate to get a guy of his caliber.”

Wunstell said he was intrigued by Boquet because the two faced similar circumstances.

Boquet took over a struggling H. L. Bourgeois High School program and, within four years, had won a district championship.

Wunstell spent the last two years as head coach of South Lafourche, coaching the same players who won the district championship for the Tarpons this season.

Together, Wunstell believes the two have the experience to build a successful football program from the ground up.

A few other area coaches have expressed interest in helping out, but Wunstell refused to name them because they are coaching at other schools.

A Promising future

Currently, 44 players are on the Lions’ roster and ready to suit up for spring drills in April.

Since CCA is not a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA), they are not restricted to an allotted number of practice days.

As a member of the LCSAA, Wunstell can practice as many days as he sees fit.

“In a Christian league, you are eligible to start playing high school ball in the sixth grade and, eventually, that sophomore class will become seniors,” the coach explained. “We’re taking our elementary classes – kindergarten through first grade is going to play flag football. Our goal is to have students have fun at a young age. We’re not worried about wins and losses; we want participation and interest in the sport.”

The Christian League includes 33 members. It has six- and 11-man football. Covenant Christian is planning to join 11-man football next season, bringing the total of teams up to eight.

They have practice uniforms currently on order as well as weights. Because athletics gets an allotted portion of each of the school’s four yearly fundraisers, uniforms will be ordered once practice begins in April.

Once the new church is built in front of the school next year, a football field house, weight room and cafeteria will follow.

Their make-shift weight room is currently housed in a portable storage shed behind the school.

“People don’t know how tough being a coach is because you have the offseason too that you have to deal with,” Wunstell said. “Everybody is going in the same direction. I just knew that’s the type of atmosphere we’d have here. This is starting from the ground up.”

Folmar admitted it’s been a long process to get the school open, but he’s taking things as they come and is content with the pace the school has continued to grow.

“We’re on a journey,” he said. “We’re not going to be Evangel tomorrow. It’s a process. I am pleased with the way things have gone to this point.”

In the meantime, Wunstell said he is attempting to work with area middle schools so his team can play games next season. He has contacted Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Mary parishes to see if it would be possible to pick up local games. He’s even willing to play all road games if it means extra games for the Lions.

“If I only pick up two games, then that’s two more games for the kids to play and enjoy,” he said. “Our goal here as far as athletics is to first build a relationship with the Lord, get a quality education.

“If our kids can do good things to earn a scholarship and to get their education paid for, then that is what we want to do,” he added.

Covenant Christian Academy head football coach Blyght Wunstell poses outside of the new school where the former Evangel assistant and former South Lafourche High School head football coach is bringing football into the mix of a growing athletic program starting next year. Wunstell and South Terrebonne assistant Randy Boquet were given the task of building the football program from the ground up. * Staff photo by KYLE CARRIER