Funded on their own, Cecilia High’s soccer team has worked hard to get to where they are today.
When news of a new “multipurpose stadium” reached the team, they were ecstatic to learn that soccer lines would be included in the plans.
“The original plan for turf fields was originated in St. Martinville,” says District I School Board member Steve Fuselier. “The reason we did it was for the soccer kids to have a place to play. St. Martin Parish decided to do Breaux Bridge and Cecilia, we wanted everything to be the same.”
But suddenly, there was a change and the lines were taken out of the plans.
Cecilia High School Senior, Jonas Angelle says the players just want to feel like they are equal to everyone else.
“We just want to be held on the same standards as football.”
Packing the St. Martin Parish School Board meeting on Thursday night, team members and board members alike pleaded their case to get soccer lines added back to the plans. Coaches even offered to pay for the lines themselves.
“We just wanted the quality,” says Coach Brian Baumam. “It never had to get to this, I begged them to let us.”
While the majority of St. Martin Parish stands behind the soccer players and their quest for equality on the field,
two others do not. Now, the players will have to wait until November to find out if the lines will be added back into the plans.
“It’s been hard. We feel like we’re being discriminated against,” says Angelle. “We feel like the football players are getting the new turf and we’re getting a grass field that is muddy, sloppy, and uneven.”
While this meeting is a minor setback for those in support of the soccer lines, they’re not letting it get them down. Instead, they will continue pushing forward and fighting for a cause they all believe in.
