Pulling up to Neville (Monroe ,La.) High School during the MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the National
Guard was not what I expected. I thought I was going to be at a modern day high
school with all of the modern day features. What I saw was a school that was
built in the mid 1920’s that still retained all of its old school charm. It was
really nice to see that a school such as Neville not want to break free from all of its tradition and early
1900’s charm.
The pep rally
was also something special that only a school built in the early part of last
century could pull off. I was very
surprised to learn that Neville has been starting every pep rally the same
since the school was built. The cheerleaders, athletes, the rest of the student
body and even the teachers really seem to understand that what they do every
single Friday without fail is bigger than they are. When you combine all of
those elements it became really hard not to be caught up in everything that
Neville High School stands for and has become for almost a century.
Nick Reasons of
MaxPreps handled the festivities for the presentation of the National Guard
National Ranking Trophy. He spoke of the
great accomplishments of the Tiger football team and introduced SFC Rick
Vandevender of the Louisiana National Guard. SFC Vandevender reiterated some of Nick’s
points surrounding the team and said the National Guard was extremely honored
to present the Tigers with this prestigious national trophy for finishing No.
52 nationally in the MaxPreps Freeman poll.
He called up the team and head coach Mickey McCarty to accept the award
to the delight of the crowd.
I went to
Neville not knowing anything about the school or its traditions. However, by
meeting everybody, I learned all about the rich traditions of the school and I
was able to leave a fan. I am looking forward to going back to Neville as a fan
and let everything that this school is consume me one more time. Neville is
definitely a hidden gem that reminds us what happens when you take the time to
slow down and do things right.
