A couple of awards were given out at the Bossier City Lions Club Bossier Parish Jamboree coaches dinner Monday night at Airline Baptist Church.
One was serious and one, well, wasn’t.
Bossier defense coordinator Marcus Hudson received the Kevin Black Assistant Coach Award. The award is named after the late Kevin Black, a longtime Parkway assistant who passed away in 2021.
Hudson said he was surprised by the award. He thought his evening would consist of enjoying the catfish dinner and sharing a few laughs with his colleagues.
Hudson, who is entering his fifth season as a Bossier assistant, gave a heartfelt speech thanking some of those that have helped him on his journey. Among those were former Benton Head Coach and Bossier Schools Superintendent Mitch Downey, Parkway Head Coach Coy Brotherton and Bossier Head Coach Gary Smith.
“I just want to thank Bossier Parish,” he said. “I owe a lot to the coaches and people I’ve experienced in my life in this community.”
Hudson played linebacker for Downey and was All-City and All-State. He played football at Belhaven before earning his undergraduate degree at Southern. He began his coaching career in 2014 as an assistant to Brotherton at Plain Dealing.
The other award was presented by Smith. At last year’s dinner, Steve Dennis made his first appearance as head coach of the Benton Tigers.
During his speech, which was somewhat long by jamboree dinner standards, he talked about how it’s necessary to build bridges within the team and community in order to be successful.
The “build bridges” comment became sort of a running joke in some of the other coaches’ speeches.
So this year Smith presented Dennis with the “build bridges” award. It was a model bridge.
“I can do this because we don’t play Benton,” Smith said before making the presentation.
The award provided some of the biggest laughs of the night and Dennis took it in stride.
When it was his turn to speak, he kept it short.
Of course, the award wasn’t the only thing that produced laughter.
As usual, the head coaches got in a few gentle jabs at their colleagues.
If there was an award for that it would probably have gone to Plain Dealing second-year Head Coach Jerry Byrd Jr. Haughton Head Coach Matthew Sewell also got in a few good zingers as did Brotherton and Scogin.
But the dinner was mostly about the camaraderie that exists among the coaches and administrators in Bossier Parish.
Superintendent Jason Rowland, a former coach, closed the evening by reminding the coaches that their actions have a lasting impact on their players and students. Those actions and interactions determine if the players and students come away with a positive experience or if it go in another direction.
The 73rd Bossier City Lions Club Bossier Parish Jamboree is Friday at M.D. Ray Field at Airline Stadium.
Haughton and Benton, who are not playing in the regular season, face off at 5;45 p.m. They are followed by Bossier vs. Plain Dealing at 7:15 and Airline vs. Parkway at 7:45.
Gates open at 4:30.
The Lions Club will host a luncheon honoring the Jamboree Queens Thursday.