While there are many different categories of awards presented by the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, some years the Committee finds that there are people deserving of recognition who do not necessarily fit into one specific category. For that reason, the Committee presents the
Jimmy Collins Awards to outstanding individuals and organizations.
Collins was a longtime New Orleans sportswriter who is credited with creating the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards and forming the awards committee in 1958.
While the two groups that have been selected for Collins Awards in 2022 – the St. Charles Catholic High School Athletic Department and the Loyola University men’s basketball team – achieved tremendous success in the athletic arenas, the honors are being presented for their persistence and perseverance in overcoming challenges presented by Hurricane Ida to reach those levels of achievement.
St. Charles Catholic High School is located in LaPlace, in the heart of the River Parishes region of Greater New Orleans that was devastated by Hurricane Ida in late August of 2021.
“Our athletic facility took a tremendous hit,” said Wayne Stein, the school’s director of athletics. “But the real damage was with our kids and their homes. They were devastated. We have multiple kids that still aren’t in their homes. They’re living with friends or relatives or in trailers. That’s the part that’s amazing. Our kids don’t take athletics for granted; it’s the closest to normalcy that they have. It hasn’t been a chore to get them to focus when they get out on the field and the results speak for themselves.”
After the crushing effects of the storm, it would have been considered a success for the Comets to even field athletic teams for 2021-22. However, the resilient school did far more than field teams – it fielded championship teams.
The football team didn’t play its first game until Sept. 18. Practices were hit-or-miss leading up to the game as players were spending the majority of their free time rebuilding houses and salvaging belongings. But the Comets won their emotional opener, 3-0. The following week, they won again; and then again. Using a stout defense, they won all eight regular season games, including six shutouts. In the LHSAA Division III playoffs, they stopped Dunham, 27-0, to advance to the semifinals where they held off No. 2 Notre Dame, 17-13. Then in the state championship game against top-seeded Lafayette Christian, they brought the magical season to a close with a thrilling 32-27 victory.
“I’m a very proud River Parishes resident and I saw so many great things come out of Ida,” said Stein, who also serves as the school’s football and baseball coach. “People doing things out of the kindness of their hearts. Our teams went out and we gutted 20-25 homes in the community. We would all work together to see who we could help. It made us feel good about our community. I’m most proud of our kids exemplifying what River Parishes are all about. They didn’t make excuses; they just went to work. The school and their families supported them; they played for something so much bigger than themselves.”
That wasn’t all for the Comets, however. While continuing to rebuild their community, they made another state championship run, winning the LHSAA Division III title in baseball. Once again, defense was their calling card as they opened the playoffs with 2-0 and 4-1 victories before tallying another shutout in the title game, 2-0 over top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas. In addition, the St. Charles Catholic softball team also had a tremendous run, advancing to the Division III state championship game.
Ida’s impact affected people throughout the state, including within the city limits of New Orleans. The Loyola men’s basketball team had high hopes for a memorable 2021-22 season. And then Ida ripped through the roof of the University Sports Complex, the facility which includes The Den, the Wolf Pack’s basketball arena. Severe damage was suffered by the gym floor, surrounding offices, locker rooms and the training room.
“I received a video of the roof coming off the Sports Complex,” said Brett Simpson, Loyola’s director of athletics. “I knew that our indoor teams would be displaced for several months. To the credit of our student athletes and the coaches that lead them, there were no complaints all year long. They just went about their business and did what they needed to do to be successful.”
The basketball team, which opened practices in October, became city nomads. The team practiced at gyms all around the city, including Tulane, Xavier and Delgado. And they often practiced at 6 a.m. to avoid already-scheduled events at those facilities.
And just like St. Charles Catholic, the Wolf Pack opened with a win, and kept on winning. After posting 13 straight wins for the best start in program history, Loyola claimed the No. 1 NAIA national ranking.
However, the teams’ adversity was not complete. In early January, the COVID pandemic led to three games being canceled. Upon its return to the court, a short-handed Wolf Pack was handed a 92-73 defeat, knocking them to No. 3 in the nation with a 16-1 record.
Just like with the Ida obstacle, Loyola pulled together and proceeded to rattle off 12 straight wins to close the regular season. It rolled to three straight wins to capture the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Championship to enter the NAIA National Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the nation.
In the national tourney, Loyola made quick work of its first two opponents, scoring over 100 points in both games to advance to the round of 16 in Kansas City. In the next six days, the Wolf Pack would post four more victories to capture its first national championship since 1947.
“They just would not be denied,” Simpson said. “People forget that we lost in the quarterfinals last season, and I think that had a lot to do with their motivation. Stacy [head coach Stacy Hollowell] deserves so much credit for keeping the team focused and refusing to give into any distractions. They also had tremendous leadership with a very cohesive, veteran team that worked every day for the common goal of winning our first national championship in 77 years.”
