By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

After seven seasons as St. Charles Catholic girls’ basketball Coach, Erin Remondet is stepping down.

Remondet says that the need to spend time with her family, particularly her two young children, made the move necessary for her.

“It’s something that’s been weighing on my mind, ever since I had my little girl,” she said. “What makes it extremely difficult is basketball is in my blood. It always has been.

“I was torn between my love of the game and my children. I know in my heart it’s the right decision, and I have no regrets whatsoever.”

St. Charles has not yet named a coach for next season.

She leaves after a season in which the Lady Comets finished 15-14, and just shy of the state tournament after falling in a district playoff to Brusly.

Her run at the school ran deeper than her seven years captaining the team as coach. Remondet also graduated from St. Charles in 1996, after starting at point guard on the basketball team and playing alongside her twin sister, Erica, under then-Coach Jeff Montz.

The Lady Comets went 24-7 that year, including an undefeated district record and championship, before bowing out in the bi-district round of the state playoffs to Opelousas Catholic.

“To this day, I can’t even read that game article,” Remondet says. “I just remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ll never wear this uniform again,’” she said.

“Of all the places I’ve played, that St. Charles gym was always my favorite place to play.”

Her coaching career saw its own share of big wins. The biggest, in her estimation, came near the end of the 2006-07 season, when her Comets were able to defeat a strong St. James team in double overtime in a district playoff game.

“The girls were just so overwhelmed with excitement. I was truly happy for them to experience that kind of a win,” Remondet said.

She says she is not done with coaching forever. At this point, she is going to concentrate on teaching, and is looking toward a job in the public school system after being unable to come to an agreement to stay on as a teacher at SCC.

“My option to stay was to agree to teach physics. It wasn’t a course I was comfortable in that I could do the very best job I could do, so I chose to pursue other options,” she said.

But she says she’ll always remember her time at the school, especially the girls that played under her.

“It’s very hard to leave them,” she said. “All the girls that played for me are part of my heart. We shared a lot of special times.”