Lions and lady Lions have done their part to help the community to recover after the horrific flooding that occurred  in parts of southern Louisiana two weeks ago. 
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Two weeks ago, record-breaking rainfall caused extreme flooding in areas not only in Baton Rouge but also in Ponchatoula and other towns in Tangipahoa Parish. Some have lost everything in the flood and will now have to begin the rebuilding process. However, the Lions and Lady Lions athletic teams did not let them go through it alone as they immediately went to aid members of the community.

“Pretty much all of our teams were out,” said Athletic Director Jay Artigues. “I don’t have the total number, but I know baseball alone gutted and cleaned out a lot of houses. Basketball went out, football went out, soccer, volleyball, etcetera. It was tremendous. That outpouring of support from our coaches and our student athletes was outstanding.”

The mission was to help, and they started with their own players and coaches that were affected. Afterwards, they began to help anyone and everyone that needed it.

“There is so many people out there who need help and you want to reach out to all of them,” said Artigues. “We definitely tried to find people that work in the athletic department, families at Southeastern whether it was athletics or anything even students that were affected. Once we reached out to them, we started pouring it out and just helping in general the entire community. It was very exciting and humbling to see the outpour and support from our student athletes.”

There were several student athletes and coaches that lost everything in the flooding and are still rebuilding and recuperating from this disaster.

“Several students, our coaches were affected by it,” said Artigues. “We did have staff members affected and several student athletes. We went out and helped a lot of them and it is making a big difference.”

Artigues remembers when he had dealt with a similar ordeal during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  

“I went through Katrina and had six feet of water in my house, and it is humbling,” said Artigues. “You don’t know what to do. And now seeing people go through that you know where they are at. They just need someone to put their arm around you and say they got it and they will help you out and that is what is happening.”

Head baseball Coach Matt Riser rallied his team almost before any of the other teams to start the flood relief effort.

“We started discussing the possibility on Sunday when we realized how many areas the flooding was starting to affect,” said Riser. “The coaching staff was discussing plans when a few players started to reach out with the same idea. We sent out the message to meet at 9 a.m. on Monday morning and made it completely voluntary. Thirty-eight of the forty players showed up to help at some point during the week. We had one guy trapped and another who had surgery. All the other guys 100 percent volunteered. It was awesome to see how willing our guys were to participate.”

After the flooding had gone down, Riser and his players witnessed how much work needed to be done for the affected areas to recover.

“I cannot speak for some of the areas, but I know we went to Denham Springs on Monday and it was complete devastation,” said Riser. “I have not seen anything like it since Hurricane Katrina. It looked like a third world country in the middle of a war. It was an eye opener for all of the young men to see ground zero.”

The Lions basketball coaches thankfully did not lose everything but were not able to get back to their homes due to the flooding and roadblocks.

“Most of our coaches were affected,” said Men’s Head basketball Coach Jay Ladner. “Coach Roane, coach Wilson, coach Witherspoon and coach Kiefer. Four of our coaches lived in Springfield and were displaced. They could not get in or get out, but thankfully their houses were not destroyed.”

With the classes now having started yesterday the focus for all athletics now has to shift to school and for some teams towards the upcoming season.

“We have decided that after helping 37 homes and families that it was time for us to start concentrating on school,” said Riser. “The number of families affected by the storm will take months to recover. I believe we have influenced a number of different organizations to follow our lead.”

However, athletics will try to work around school if necessary in order to continue to provide help to those who in the community who still need it.

“We are going to still look for opportunities,” said Ladner. “Obviously everything has gotten thrown in disarray and our players need to focus on classes. So, what we are going to have to do is maybe go out in the evening instead of during the day. There is still a lot to be done.”

The Lions and Lady Lions have set a huge example in how to respond and lend a helping hand when disaster strikes the community. 

“I have never been more proud of our young men in my ten years at Southeastern,” said Riser. “I have never been more proud of our entire student body, student athletes, and alumni. I have never been more proud to be a Lion for life.” 

 

Head baseball Coach Matt Riser (above) along with players helping to pull up the damaged floors in a house. The baseball team has helped 37 families since the flooding and was one of the first teams to start helping in the aftermath.  
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