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The future is bright for athletics in the Tri-parish area.
Over the past year or so, countless local youth teams have done wonderful things in competitions both here and also across the country.
The successes are wide in scope and encompass several sports – football, basketball, baseball, softball, gymnastics and many others.
They include children in all three parishes and include both our young boys and girls.
This is a talent-rich place – we have dozens of quality athletes who are blessed with the God-given ability to use ordinary bodies to do extraordinary things.
But today, we will dedicate our space to the folks behind the scenes who never get the credit they deserve for their work polishing the youngsters of our area: the youth sport coaches who sacrifice their time and attention to polish the skills of our young children.
For better or worse, every child is the same when they are first brought into the world of sports.
Sure, some are bigger and stronger than others.
There is also the occasional outlier who can jump higher and react quicker than the other kids, too. That’s inevitable.
But every kid pretty much starts on level footing when picking up a sport for the first time.
From there, success is a combination of learning the proper fundamentals, developing a love for the game and then also being blessed with a little bit of luck along the way. By luck, we mean physical strength and size.
This is where our area’s coaches come into play – we’re fortunate to have a slew of able bodies willing to introduce athletics and competition to kids.
I’ll share a story of my own experiences.
I am a youth basketball coach with South Lafourche Biddy Basketball.
I coach my 8-year-old nephew each year with my brother. I also have started coaching my young female godchild, who is rising through the Iddy Biddy ranks.
My coaching experience is the same each week. I dedicate an hour to the team each week for practice and I then show up to my team’s games each week.
It’s no sweat off my brow. It’s a small time commitment.
But there are dozens and dozens of people around me who do much more.
I am close personal friends with people who coach multiple teams across multiple age divisions.
Some of these people have kids. Others don’t. They just do it because they love to teach. I know from experience that being around the youngsters also sort of keeps the soul young, too.
These people give countless hours to the sport. They expect absolutely nothing in return.
When All-Stars rolls around, these people pay their own hard-earned money out of pocket to stay in hotels to meet the travel demands of the schedule.
They also pay out of pocket for gas – often lugging several young tikes to and from destinations in the process.
Through the world of sports, these people are teaching the X’s and O’s of sports to our youth – a discipline that sticks as the child matures from youth to adolescence to adulthood.
But away from sports, the coaches are also quality people who are teaching kids to act right and be productive citizens.
Other people within our basketball organization make the decision to serve as board members throughout the season.
These people spend virtually their entire weekend at the basketball gym doing the various things necessary to make our operation flow seamlessly without a hitch. Some run the scoreboard, while others referee. There is also always help needed in the kitchen, too – no job is more important than another. It’s all necessary to make a weekend operate seamlessly.
All of the work is done without complaint. No compensation is given. It’s philanthropy in its purest form.
These people understand they are serving a cause greater than themselves – the kids.
My stories are limited to the South Lafourche area, as it’s the place that I have called home for my entire life.
But I know from speaking with others that the entire area has stories that are similar to my own.
In Raceland and Thibodaux, their youth sports organizations have thrived and several fruits of their labor have matured, graduated and moved on to play college sports.
In Houma, TPR is annually a hotbed for young talent.
St. Mary Parish also has several solid programs to introduce our youngsters to athletics.
Across all of our parishes, baseball leagues, gymnastics programs, cheering programs and youth football is also wildly popular.
But it all wouldn’t be possible without the coaches.
The players can be found anywhere – every community has youngsters who want to play sports.
But a good youth program becomes great when good people are involved in the process.
Our area is blessed with that in abundance.
It’s not a coincidence that our young men and women have had so much success on their respective playing fields throughout the summer.
They are guided by quality coaches and also some very quality people.
Local Biddy Basketball players scramble for the basketball during an All-Stars game this winter. Several youth sports organizations have had success in the past year. Sports Editor Casey Gisclair credits that success to the volunteerism of coaches.
