Sports

First of all, I’ll start this off by saying that I am very glad to be able to write a monthly outdoor column for the Farmerville Gazette at the request of editor Byron Avery. I think it’s vital for a community like Farmerville to have local news that they can depend on to be fair and accurate. And another great part is to help promote the community.

The Louisiana High School Coaches’ Association Executive Council recently held a Zoom meeting to discuss the 2020 LHSCA Coaches Convention. The event had been scheduled for July 21-22 at The Crown Plaza in Baton Rouge. Over a thousand coaches, athletic directors, administrators, and speakers were expected to be in attendance with the move back to Baton Rouge and back to its original spot on the calendar.

Jack Miner has been dead for more than half a century. Called the “Father of Conservation” for his pioneering work banding ducks and geese and in providing a sanctuary for migrating waterfowl, a statement attributed to him still rings as true today as it did then: “If I can get a child to love a bird, that child will love his fellow man.”

ULM women’s basketball junior guard/forward Whitney Goins has been selected to attend the Athletes in Action Virtual Leadership Academy for captains and emerging leaders running May 15-17.

ULM’s Eric Hawkins, Rebekka Schubert, Brianna Sam and Jasmine Scott-Kilgo have been named to the Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-Louisiana Indoor Track & Field Team, based upon the best performances (times and distances) posted in their respective events as compiled by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Steele Netterville earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 First Team honors, which recognizes him as one of the nation’s top student-athletes for combined performances on the field and in the classroom.

Odds that a Heisman Trophy winner, a PGA golf champion, a national record-setting boys basketball scorer, a softball pitcher with 40 no-hitters, a well-known Major League Baseball player and a Super Bowl MVP could be grouped together seems remote.

The Grambling football family is in mourning. Former Tigers offensive lineman, Billy Manning, has passed away.

Given the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ULM Athletics is lowering football season-ticket prices to make seats more affordable for Warhawk fans. Season-ticket prices have been discounted from $20-$30 per seat, depending on location, according to an announcement made Friday, May 8 by ULM Athletics Director Scott McDonald.

Spring commencement has been delayed to August due to the public health threat of COVID-19, but Louisiana Tech Athletics is offering good news to spring graduates in the form of free 2020 football and basketball season tickets.