MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / August 21, 1999

RESERVE – Reserve Christian had quite a successful year in its first year in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association, winning a district title and advancing to the state tournament in volleyball and making the state semifinals in boys’ basketball.

The school is now looking to build on that success, introducing three new sports for the 1999-2000 school year – seventh and eighth-grade football, wrestling and boys’ and girls’ track and field.

The school’s enrollment has risen to 332 for all grades, the highest in its history. Athletic Director Timmy Byrd said to help that enrollment tocontinue to grow, it was decided that it was time to start football. Byrdsaid 24-26 students signed up to play this year. If all goes well, the planis start high school football in the next two years.

“We want to get our feet wet with seventh and eighth-grade football,” Byrd said. There is enough interest by the seventh and eighth grade tooffer it. We had a real good turnout so we are looking forward to it.”Wayde Delaneuville will coach the team with Byrd assisting him. Byrd saidthe schedule will include teams from Baton Rouge and New Orleans and that he is looking at a six to eight game schedule. The team will practicebehind the school’s gym and in front of the new high school. The team willuse the equipment from the 8-man football team the school had in past years.

The school had a number of athletes compete in track at Oral Roberts University this summer and a decision was made to offer this school year.

Byrd said the team will have competitors in the throwing events, long jump and track events.

“We will do what we can compete in,” Byrd said.

Reserve Christian will compete in Class B in the sport. The team’s coachhas not been decided upon yet. Byrd said a track still needs to be found butthat most of the training can be done on the campus.

The school will offer wrestling this year. Byrd said there are fourstudents in seventh grade that wrestle and four more in high school that have expressed interest. Two coaches have expressed interest in coachingthe squad that would compete in Division III.

With the new sports, Reserve Christian will now offer seventh and eighth grade football, girls’ volleyball, wrestling, freshman, junior varsity and varsity boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, baseball, softball and track and field.

“We want to try to satisfy the students here,” Byrd said. “If we havestudents here who want to compete in a sport and we have the ability to do so, we want to have it. As the enrollment grows, we will add sports.”

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