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September 4, 2015
Even though officials continue to maintain that local water is safe to drink, the Terrebonne Parish School System isn’t taking any chances. Public schools throughout the parish have closed drinking fountains and have been providing students with bottled water throughout the school day and during lunch.
But with football season here and athletes performing in heat indexes that sometimes climb above 100 degrees, local students are often in need of a cold drink after school hours – a time when the school board’s bottled water plan is no longer in effect and student-athletes and coaches are on their own.
To create a solution that works for everyone, on-field rivals have come together to make sure that everyone has the resources they need to prepare for the season.
Football coaches throughout Terrebonne Parish were busy this week with jamborees and preparation for Friday’s start to the 2015
season. But they also were forced to drive to Lafourche Parish schools to pick up ice to use in both practices and also jamboree games that were played throughout the week.
Coaches said the water in fieldhouses has a strong chemical odor, and they didn’t want to chance giving it to players to drink in large amounts – like are often consumed during average practice sessions on hot summer days.
“They say that the water is safe to drink, but when you turn the faucet on, it smells like you’re shocking a swimming pool because of the chlorine they’re using,” H.L. Bourgeois coach Carey Melvin said. “We’ve gone to Thibodaux High School to get ice, and we’ve also gotten help from Central Lafourche this week, as well. This is my first year as a head coach. When I took this job, I had a list of about 100 things that I was concerned about. It’s ironic, because I never thought that finding a way to get water would ever be on my list of things to do.”
The folks dishing out the supplies to the Terrebonne Parish schools say that they’re happy to help – even if the supplies that are being shared are going to their cross-district rivals.
Thibodaux coach Chris Dugas worked with Melvin last season, and said that helping Melvin and the Braves program was a “no-brainer.” The Thibodaux High School coach said that he knows with certainty that if the roles were reversed and it was Thibodaux that was in need, that he, too, would get the help that he was looking for.
“They came to us, and told us what they needed. We were more than happy to help out,” Dugas said. “The water situation out there is unfortunate, and it’s not anything that anyone can control. The schools around here have a pretty good working relationship with one another. If one school has something to spare and another needs it, we look out for one another and help each other out any way that we can.”
Central Lafourche football coach Keith Menard agreed. The Trojans coach said the beauty of high school football is that the fraternity itself is stronger than all of the rivalries that teams form along the way.
Menard said that throughout his career, his programs have always been willing to lend help to neighboring schools when it was possible to do so.
“That’s the beauty of high school sports,” Menard said. “We all have that respect and that unity toward one another. We’re here to help the kids, and if helping the kids means giving another program a little water, then let’s do it.”
The 2015 prep football season begins throughout the week in the state of Louisiana. A total of three games will be played in the parish on opening night of the season. At Terrebonne’s field, H.L. Bourgeois will host South Terrebonne. At South Terrebonne’s field, Ellender will host Terrebonne. Both games will be played on Friday night. Vandebilt will also be home on Friday, taking on E.D. White.
Covenant Christian Academy is home on Friday as well, but they play their games at Nicholls State University in Lafourche Parish.
Water fountains at Terrebonne’s Government Tower are being covered up.
Freshman South Lafourche quarterback Brock Bailleaux throws a pass during a jamboree game last Wednesday at Central Lafourche High School. Local schools have teamed up to help one another get past the amoeba that is in local water.
