By KAREN LAGRANGE COX
Founded in 2016 by Windy Hanks, Acadiana Christian Athletics (ACS), also known as “The Defenders,” offers sports for local high school students who are home-schooled or attend private or public schools that do not have a sports program. All coaches are volunteers.
ACA “is a ministry organization that focuses on developing Godly men and women through competitive sports, striving for excellence in competition, character, and ministry to be an example of Christ throughout our community and around the world,” according to its website.
ACA offers the following sports opportunities for students:
Football (FALL) Varsity and Junior High
Tennis (FALL)
Cheer (FALL) Varsity and Junior Varsity
Basketball (WINTER)
Baseball (SPRING) Varsity and Junior High
Softball (SPRING)
Junior high school football consists of grades sixth to eighth; flag football is for grades fourth and fifth.
The teams practice and play at St. Julien Park in Broussard, Louisiana.
Last weekend, ACA finished number three in the state for baseball and girls’ softball.
ACA’s football and cheerleaders have started their Spring Practice for May and will return at the end of July. This year forty to fifty varsity players are training for the football team.
Their regular football season begins in August 2023. The team plays public schools out of Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Just recently, Evadale High School in Evadale, Texas, near Beaumont, received permission to cross the state line into Louisiana. Their team will place ACA, which will allow ACA to have its first home game.
To learn more about Acadiana Christian Athletics, visit its Facebook page.
