Soccer in Livingston Parish Schools

The Livingston Parish School Board should adopt boys and girls soccer as a school-sponsored sport.

Soccer has increased in popularity across our nation and state, and virtually all other school districts in our area field soccer teams at the high school level at least. Despite limited financial support and available facilities, participation in soccer is growing at an exponential rate among youths in Livingston Parish. Parks and Recreation of Denham Springs had 783 children from the ages of 4-12 registered for the 2006-2007 soccer year (fall and spring seasons). The Livingston Parish Soccer Association, which plays home games in Walker, had 644 children from the ages of 4-15 registered for the 2006-2007 soccer year (fall and spring seasons). In addition, numerous children from Livingston Parish play in the Baton Rouge Soccer Association, especially those seeking the challenge of highly competitive "premier" level soccer.

The combined total of children from Livingston Parish playing youth soccer is far more than the total registration of the Gonzales Soccer Club (913), the youth soccer association for Ascension Parish. Yet, Ascension Parish features soccer teams at three high schools and seven junior highs. The high school teams from that parish are among the best in Louisiana. The boys and girls teams at Dutchtown, East Ascension and St. Amant all made the playoffs, with the Dutchtown girls reaching the semi-finals and the E.A. boys losing in the state championship game. Is there any reason why Livingston Parish should be content to be so far off the soccer map compared to our neighbors?

Currently, Livingston Parish Schools have only one soccer team, a girls team at Walker High School. The students at other Livingston Parish schools dream of playing for their local schools and should have that opportunity. The strength of that dream is illustrated by the determination of those who launched the WHS team with zero funding from the school district, virtually no administrative support and no facilities on the school campus. The WHS team now plays on the football field, but was not allowed to do so for a couple of seasons. Despite strong participation levels, support from the school district for the Walker girls team appears to remain at minimal levels. The team endures largely due to the sacrifices of a purely volunteer coaching staff and players who so love the sport they are willing to spend time on fund-raisers and PR activities.

It's time for soccer in Livingston Parish to officially have a place in school sports and receive at least a little official support. There should not be a need to eliminate another sport to make room for soccer. The additional equipment and facilities needed are relatively minimal and not particularly expensive. Other area schools have had little problem scheduling soccer in along with other sports (e.g, the high school season doesn't overlap with football, baseball or softball).

This petition urges the Livingston Parish School Board to create soccer teams for boys and girls in all the Livingston Parish high schools as well as junior highs as soon as feasible, preferably for the 2007-08 athletic season. We encourage the Livingston Parish School Board to expand opportunities for our children to engage in supervised athletics where they can reap the benefits of teamwork, sportsmanship and physical fitness.