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A tribute to Brother Alphonse LeBlanc, FSC, one of the founders of state high school soccer.  Brother Al was honored at the beginning of the Saint Paul-De La Salle regional playoff match February 15, 1994.

Twenty-five years ago in the fall of 1968, a Rummel freshman went up to Brother Alphonse LeBlanc, FSC, and asked him if he would start a soccer team at the fledgling Catholic high school in Metairie.  Little did he realize at that moment what would be created in the city and the state, largely by his hands, in terms of interscholastic soccer!  Like most native New Orleanians at the time, the only thing he associated with soccer were the goalposts, which still stand, in Audubon Park facing Magazine-a small “monument” to the sport which has budded and flourished in our area.  Evidence the youth leagues, clubs, schools, amateurs and semi-professional New Orleans Gamblers.

 In 1968 there were no interscholastic leagues.  But through the auspices of “Pro” Schuermann and Carlos Mitchell with the Jefferson Parish Recreation Department, Archbishop Rummel’s 9th grade team formed a league with Our Lady of Lourdes (Violet), Costa Rica Juniors, and the Jefferson Saints.  There were rarely goals, and when there were, there were no nets.  Refs . . . refs?

Brother Al remembers beginning the season with a pamphlet entitled, “Sandlot Soccer” and ending it with a 2-0 victory over Jefferson in what may arguably be the first high school level soccer trophy awarded in the state.  There were more trophies to come.

As 1969 rolled around, Brother Al appointed himself “league director” and recruited and organized new schools into what was grandly named the Greater New Orleans Interscholastic Soccer Football Association.  GNOIS FA-a great trivia question!  Charter members included Saint Paul’s School, (like De La Salle and Archbishop Rummel, a Christian Brothers-conducted high school) Fortier, Redemptorist, Holy Cross, Country Day, Marjorie Walters and Olympia (a club team).  De La Salle, coached by Gerry Mueller, joined in 1972.

LHSAA sanctioned soccer in 1971, and as the New Orleans area schools were the only ones to field teams, when Holy Cross won the title over Rummel by percentage points in the standings, they won “state” (playoffs did not exist in these humbler days!).  In 1974 and again in 1975 Rummel captured the “state title.”  Besides Rummel, the powerhouses of the mid- and late seventies included Warren Easton and Country Day and De La Salle, each of whom won state titles.

By 1987, soccer had planted roots in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and the Northshore.  The LHSAA’s inaugural state championship pitted Catholic league arch-rivals Jesuit and Rummel.  The Raiders, still led by Brother Al as coach, painfully conceded a goal that decided the typically close match.  The balance of power has since shifted to Slidell and Catholic, who have won succeeding titles.

Brother Al retired from coaching after twenty-five years last season, having well earned the distinction “founding father.”  But he prefers being called Brother . . . thanks Brother Al!

This page last modified on:  Monday, February 06, 2006