A steetcar ride down Canal Street will take passengers past a historic church parish that has been closed since 2005.

While high school sports are at a standstill during these few months that the students are on vacation, the temporary hiatus becomes the perfect time to venture through the pages of history, which has become easier by reading microfilm pages of The Times-Picayune and other local newspapers during the heyday of daily publications.

There are four events that helped mold the evolution of high school football in New Orleans and Louisiana over the decades. The first occurred in 1929 when the Louisiana High School Athletic Association opened membership to private and parochial schools. It was “no big deal” at the time because the state’s public schools outnumbered the non-publics 30-fold.

The finality of the word “goodbye” has always saddened me. I’ve said it too many times in my life. I did it again last week, with a tear in my eye, when I looked down on the body of the great Otis Washington as it lay in state in St. Augustine High School’s chapel. I knew I would never see the coach again.

It was a record-breaking year for three local Catholic school track and field performers, and all are worthy of post-season recognition for their achievement  on the Clarion Herald’s 2019 Elite Track and Field Team.

Jalen Womble’s essay about the value of education in his life earned the Holy Cross senior and football captain a scholarship worth $20,000 at the recent Allstate Sugar Bowl National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame Awards Luncheon in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Neither inclement weather nor an elite field of athletes could overcome what a pair of local Catholic school seniors had in store for them.

Just call them, finally, the Queens of the Diamond. Until last week, Dominican had won state titles in nearly every sport except for softball. Now Dominican can claim that lofty achievement as well.

If the Class 2A state track and field meet runs true to form, St. Katharine Drexel’s opportunity to repeat as the  team champion may depend on the result of the 400-meter dash.

Saturday, May 4, is a signature day for two events: the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby, and the Allstate Sugar Bowl/LHSAA State Outdoor Track and Field meet for the best athletes in Classes 3, 4 and 5A.

Fire up the maroon bus. Set the GPS to a point 215 miles due west of 5300 St. Charles Ave. De La Salle is headed for Sulphur and Frasch Park to compete in the Allstate Sugar Bowl/LHSAA State Softball Tournament, its first after 13 years of trying, but failing, to make the tournament field.

Twice state champion Archbishop Hannan and 2008 titlist St. Charles Catholic were scheduled to meet at Hannan April 20 in a match that will send the winner to Sulphur  for the Division II state semifinals on April 26.

When the Louisiana High School Athletic Association holds its annual convention in January, nearly one-third of the member principals will be “newbies.”

So much for the rejuvenation of the fabled football rivalry between Jesuit and Warren Easton high schools. And you can place a period at the end of the brief series of games between Brother Martin and Easton as well.

The 2019-20 school year may be Frank Monica’s last as athletic director and head football coach at St. Charles Catholic High School, but he will leave the athletic program he has overseen for the last 21 years in a memorable way.

Scotlandville High School had the speed and timing to outscore eight other track teams at the Brother Martin-sponsored Crusader Relays at Tad Gormley Stadium on March 27.

Louisiana is beginning its season of spring and summer festivals. That also means the 2018-19 high school sports calender is running out of dates. This is also the time of the year that various sports halls of fame are either taking shape or about to hold their inductions. I have been fortunate to be affiliated with five as a member of the selection committees or as an inductee in four.

Competing against some of the top teams and individuals in the sport of outdoor track and field from the southern region of the U.S., three athletes representing their local Catholic high schools excelled against the stout competition in the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Track and Field Classic on March 23 … just as they did in the 2018 LHSAA championship meet.

The most recent baseball power ratings show that Brother Martin has the No. 1 team in Division I for Select schools.  Those same rankings, conducted by Louisiana Sports­line, lists Dominican No. 2 and Mount Carmel No. 3 behind the top-rated softball team in Division I John Curtis, even though Dominican has a better record than the defending Division I champion.

Bye bye, Lake Charles. Adios, Burton Coliseum. The select schools’ Division I basketball championship  will see no more of you.