By KAREN LAGRANGE COX
Spencer Nezat, a Milton resident, is the new assistant track and field coach at Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy (ARCA) in Youngsville, Louisiana. He specializes in javelin throwing, shot put, and discus. In addition to coaching, he teaches engineering, Information Technology (IT) Fundamentals, and drone flying. He is excited about the opportunity to break in ARCA’s new sports field on Chemin Metairie Parkway in Youngsville.
Prior to becoming an Assistant Coach at ARCA, Nezat was a coach and teacher for six and a half years at Northwest High School in Prairie Ronde (near Lawtell), a position he was hired for immediately out of college. While at Northwest, his team scored nine medals for various throwing events, which Nezat overseen.
Nezat has obtained certifications from Microsoft and Adobe (Photoshop and Illustrator) as well as Flight 107 Drones, an official designation for drone pilots from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
For a while, Nezat ran a YouTube Channel for a real niche board game, which is now defunct. This gave him experience with graphic design video editing.
Nezat spent his childhood living in Mandeville, Louisiana, Memphis, Tennessee, and Trussville, Alabama. He claims Louisiana as home.
He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL) for college, where he competed in discus and shot put. His father, Kenny Nezat, was a closing pitcher for ULL in the 1980s.
Nezat has been playing guitar and singing since the age of 11. He has performed at various venues but now plays for his own enjoyment. He particularly enjoys country and southern rock music, citing Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers as his favorite artists. While listening to music, Nezat likes to play guitar along with the music.
He believes his love for music is inherited from his maternal grandmother, Frankie Daigle Bertrand, of Opelousas, who can play guitar and piano and sing. His late great-uncle, Hubert Daigle, was active in the music scene, singing and playing rhythm and electric guitar for country and Cajun songs. On his paternal side, his late grandfather, Dean Nezat from Eunice, was also musically gifted; he sang, played guitar, and worked as a radio disc jockey in Opelousas.
Nezat is eagerly anticipating his parents’ move from Madisonville to Youngsville, which is currently in progress. They are relocating to be closer to their son and his family.
Nezat and his wife, Jessica, have been together for ten years and married for three of those years. They have a one-year-old daughter, Maggie.
