Coach named to Biddy Basketball and National Pre-Prep board

By BEN LUNDIN

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – At 42, St. John Parks and Recreation Director Errol Manuel wears his age well, his face wide-eyed and packed with youthful exuberance with a wide toothy smile reminiscent of a young Magic Johnson.

But perhaps Manuel and Johnson’s similarities extend beyond a beaming smirk; after Manuel propelled a small parish basketball program from insignificance into national prominence in the short span of seven years, &#8220Magic” seems a name befitting his character.

&#8220Teams would go down (to tournaments) and say, ‘we want to play St. John,’ because they knew they would get a win, but now they’re trying to avoid us,” Manuel said, referring to the Parish’s All-Star teams.

Improving the basketball program is but one of many achievements for Manuel, all done during rigorous six to seven day work weeks, although he may argue that they should be called play weeks, including employment as the St. John Parish Parks and Recreation Director and volunteer work for Biddy Basketball.

He coached a team of St. John 10 year-olds to a national championship, one of four national championships for St. John Parish since 2000. The St. John Parish 12-year-olds, who should be playing in the class &#8220B” league because of the parish’s population, now participate in the class &#8220A” league because of their competitive skill level. He’s also helped underprivileged St. John youths get on Biddy Basketball squads by finding sponsors to cover the $40 enrollment fee.

Manuel finally received the recognition he’s long deserved when he was named to the Biddy Basketball and National Pre-Prep National Advisory Board on Jan. 12, 2007, becoming the tenth member on the board. Biddy Basketball, a competitive youth basketball league for 7-12 year-olds and the National Pre-Prep league, for 13 and 14 year-olds, have been the standard basketball leagues in Louisiana since 1954.

Biddy Basketball, which includes teams throughout the United States and Finland, helped cultivate the skills of such well known NBA players as Julius Irving, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Kerry Kittles and Chris Duhon.

&#8220It’s a great honor,” he said of the membership on the National Advisory Board. &#8220It’s a testament to this program and where we’ve come because we’re participating on a national level. A long time ago I was being interviewed and one of my goals was to put St. John Parish recreation on the map. I’ve got to give all my support to my volunteer coaches, without them this wouldn’t be a program.”

&#8220Errol’s a real lover of kids, a real good Christian and takes interest in a youngster’s life,” said National Biddy Director Firmin Simms. &#8220The way he handles the kids makes the kids enjoy playing for him and once the kids enjoy it they play better.”

Manuel, whose coaching roots go back to his time as a scholarship baseball player and assistant coach at Houston Tillotson College, no longer coaches Biddy Basketball, but oversees the 22 teams in the St. John Parish, scheduling games, finding gymnasiums and ensuring the roughly four coaches per team conduct practices within a designed time frame. His work brings him his favorite weekend reward. &#8220I got the chance to run the league, sit back and enjoy some basketball games on Saturday,” he said. But as much as he tries to avoid the coaching aspect of the game, he can hardly resist. &#8220You didn’t box out yesterday!” he playfully reminds a 10-year-old Biddy Basketball player at a Monday practice.

Manuel seemed destined for a life in sports starting with his childhood spent living in Lutcher but attending school in St. John Parish from kindergarten through fifth grade so he could be with his several sports-minded cousins and friends. &#8220All of us were the same age and we all loved sports, so we had some dangerous football games, dangerous basketball games and dangerous baseball games. I actually never went home until my mom said now it’s time to come home,” he said.

From sixth grade through graduation he attended school in Lutcher, much to his chagrin but to his mother’s request. &#8220(In Lutcher) I started picking up basketball more because in St. John it was more baseball, so I was able to do both, but that’s why I’ve always had a heart here even though I graduated from Lutcher.”

He continued to play baseball as a scholarship player at West Oklahoma State Junior College, where he was twice named an All-Oklahoma player, an award given to the best junior college players in the state, and later transferred to Houston Tillotson College, where he lettered for two years.

Manuel was never able to share his love for athletics with his family, a challenge that’s followed him throughout his life. &#8220I have a sister, and I joke about when we were growing up she wanted to watch cartoons and I wanted to watch basketball and her and I used to be fighting,” he said. &#8220I’ve got two kids, a 17-year-old and a 14-year-old, and the ironic thing about it is neither one of them love sports. I bought balls, bats, goals and everything else but as they got older I wasn’t going to push it. Their interests are elsewhere but they know what I love, so that’s great too.”

Perhaps it’s exactly that often lonesome appreciation of athletics that drives Manuel to spread the love of sports to other members of society. He is now in the process of getting two new gyms in St. John Parish, one on each bank, to give everyone an opportunity for friendly competition, regardless of gender, race or age.

&#8220We can do adult leagues, you can do things for senior citizens. Recreation is not just for kids, it’s for everybody,” he said. &#8220When it rains and when it gets too cold recreation shuts down. You can do a lot of things with indoor facilities, from volleyball, to 35 and over basketball, to church leagues – there’s just so much you can do. That would really be the the icing on the cake and that’s what I’m really going to be striving for.”

So fittingly, the man who’s spent his life in sports has been nothing short of a great asset for the athletics programs and Parks and Recreation department in St. John Parish, success he attributes to his love of the work.

&#8220I love what I’m doing, and I tell my boys all the time I don’t like this job because I have to I like it because I love it,” he said. &#8220If you’re not going to put your heart into it, it doesn’t make any sense to do it. I’ve given my heart to this program, and my blood and tears and everything else, and I’d give anything for my kids and the coaches in this program.”