For the fourth consecutive year, Varsity Sports Now will be providing extensive coverage of the Lady Lion Classic volleyball tournament broadcasting six matches consecutively this Friday October 3rd and Saturday October 4th.
The event is hosted annually by Covenant Christian Academy coach Craig Hamner and held at The Barry P. Bonvillain Civic Center in Houma. This season 54 teams will be competing in a tournament gaining a reputation as one of the best in the state, much like Hamner’s preseason Team Camp which has been held annually at the end of summer for the past 12 years. This past July it hosted 63 teams.
“The most rewarding thing about hosting this tournament and the team camp in the summer is getting all of the volleyball community around the state together and one big event to showcase the teams and players that we have in the state,” said Hamner.
“Scheduling 54 teams can be very rough with all the requests from different schools. But the coaches do a great job of getting me those requests so I can make this experience for them as good as possible.”
Hall of Fame (Bayour Region and LVCA) coach Chip Didier will be calling the action alongside Eric Richey for the fourth straight year.
“Announcing VSN matches at CCA tournaments allows me to see a lot of teams in a short period of time,” said Didier. “I also get to see a variety of teams that have some excellent players that we weren’t aware of. A challenge of calling so many matches is getting good reliable information on each team. Learning players’ names and coaches is a challenge. That’s about seven hours of staying focused at the job at hand and being engaged with giving good information on every player and teams.”
While Richey bows out early on Friday to handle his VSN duties overseeing a full slate of football action, various coaches will take their turns at the mic calling the action on VSN with Didier. In past years Danny Tullis (Slidell), Jodee Pulizzano (Chapelle), and even Coach Didier’s daughter Allsion Didier-Leake (Parkview Baptist) have called Lady Lion Classic games on VSN.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Haynes, AOL, Westminster, LCA, Northshore, John Curtis, Kenner Discovery, Slidell, Lutcher, just to name a few,” said Didier.
“Having VSN cover this event just further enhances the coverage of the players and teams from all over the state,” said Hamner. “Also, it highlights South Louisiana and Houma Area Visitor’s Bureau as a volleyball community that will give great hospitality and a great venue for everyone to compete.”
Hamner and Didier are longtime friends.
“Craig was my assistant coach for about four seasons at Terrebonne to start his volleyball coaching career,” said Didier. “Craig became the head coach at Terrebonne when I retired. He was one of my best coaches in my club (Bayou Bandits). After 36 years Bayou Bandits is retired now so Craig has started his own club called Southland Volleyball. His club has become very successful.”
Directing VSN’s coverage will be Sean Mire who has directed the past three tournaments in fine fashion. Mire has directed all 40 matches VSN has live streamed at the Lady Lion Classic. He is one of the few VSN directors who not only directs, but also runs a camera during the matches
Sponsors for VSN’s coverage of the Lady Lion Classic include SLMA and Louisiana Volleyball, the event organizers of two of the state’s biggest club volleyball tournament New Orleans Blastoff and Baton Rouge Blastoff.
Here is VSN’s broadcast live streaming schedule for the two-day event:
Friday October 3
(All Games on Court 3)
3:00pm Parkview Baptist vs Lutcher
4:00pm ESA vs Riverside
5:00pm Haynes vs Northlake Christian
6:00pm Airline vs Pope John Paul II
7:00pm Westminster (Opelousas) vs Kenner Discovery
8:00pm CCA vs Captain Shreve
Saturday October 4
(First 6 games on Court 3)
9:00am LCA vs Central Private
10:00am Northshore vs Kenner Discovery
11:00am AOL vs Hahnville
12:00pm Benton vs John Curtis
1:00pm Slidell vs Catholic High New Iberia
2:00pm Parkview Baptist vs Haynes