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Information provided by Evan Whitley - Class of '91
Ganus High School was a small Single-A (just about 250 students) school located
on Paris Avenue in Gentilly near the University of New Orleans. The school, a
private Christian institution, closed due to budgetary reasons in May of 1996. I
graduated from Ganus back in May of 1991 and currently work just outside of
Boston, MA. I believe the first Ganus team was formed at some point in the mid
1980's, their last season being in 1995.
The sport of choice at Ganus was basketball, and we were good, winning any
number of district titles and having participated in the state tournament for...
well, I just recall plaque after red plaque denoting the district, bi-district,
and regional honors linging the walls of the school gym.
However, the school did field a full varsity soccer team for a good many years,
personally having played between the years of 1987 and 1991, three of them as a
starter. I achieved Hon. Mention All-District in 1988-1989, 2nd Team All
District in 1989-1990, and 1st Team All District in 1990-1991.
From 1987-1989 we competed in District 7 of the Louisiana Interscholastic Soccer
Association if I recall, the schools in our District including: Ben Franklin,
Newman, St. Martin's, Country Day, Destrehan, Redeemer, and McMain. With the
Association re-structuring into two divisions in 1989-1990 (My junior year of
high school at Ganus,) we saw the addition of some newer schools including
Andrew Jackson, which had just gone co-ed a few years ago and get this, had
their homecoming game be a soccer match. I distinctly remember playing them when
their band started playing the national anthem, their cheerleaders were there...
and we ended up beating them 4-0. Also in our district were Newman and Ben
Franklin, and this was the problem: the top two programs from each District
qualified for state, so our Div. 2 District was top-heavy with two solid teams.
We finished 9-5-3 in 1989-1990, with pretty much 3/4 of our team playing Select
in the spring, our head coach at Ganus (Mike Soto) coaching the U-16 Select
Lakeview team (that also featured at least four Ganus players,) while I played
for Henry Fry out at LaFreniere for their U-16 Select.
I believe Ganus eventually played in District 6-III after I graduated, (Third
Division I think,) which included Country Day, Ridgewood, Ecole, and Lutheran.
Interesting piece of trivia: It was a female Ganus soccer player, Melanie Dube,
whose efforts led the Louisiana High School Athletic Association to repeal its
prohibitions against girls playing traditionally boys' sports in January of
1988. Since we had no girls team, she wanted to play on the boys, and won. Our
first match with her playing was against Destrehan, and I distinctly recall our
opposition bringing out about 500 fans to cheer against her. It was something
else. It too a Federal Judge's ruling against the LHSAA to allow her to play.
The following is the closest thing I could come up with in terms of a
comprehensive list of schools Ganus faced from 1987 - 1991, including both
district and non-district play:
McKinley High School (Baton Rouge)
Newman
Vandebilt
St. Martin's
Ben Franklin
Country Day
West Jefferson
Warren Easton
East Jefferson
Andrew Jackson
O.P. Walker
Abramson
Archbishop Shaw
Holy Cross
Redeemer
Destrehan
McMain
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