Nestled in the shade of giant oak trees, hidden among several other nondescript buildings, lies a monument to athletic success in the Teche Area.

At first glance, the small chalkboard tucked away into a corner of the Falcons’ weight room is easily missed. Upon further investigation, the true magnitude of the writing becomes clear with one number: 96.

The number stands for the 96 state championships that ESA athletics have won since 1979, an accomplishment made even more impressive by the academic performance of the ESA students.

For Athletic Director Michael Bourgeois, the success and failure of any program begins with a coaching staff that can maintain a consistent level of development and performance.

“Through the years we’ve had a great administration that has understood the value of having great coaches in place,” Bourgeois explained. “When you look at our programs, every one of our coaches are truly stellar and the key to our coaches is their player development. When you have good player development, it leads to consistency because, no matter where a kid is at, they’re developing constantly. By the time they get to the varsity level, they’re ready to compete, and that is, honestly, what really kind of separates us and keeps that consistency across the board.”

ESA’s coaches pair that consistency with a student body that overwhelmingly participates in athletics. Despite having such a small student body, ESA fields numerous teams throughout the year, with over 80% of the students taking part in sports. While Bourgois said that the school doesn’t require students to play sports, they do make it easy and approachable to join a team, regardless of previous experience.

“We don’t require it, but we are what’s called participatory,” he said. “What that means, for us, is that if you want to be on the team, you can be on the team. You still have to meet the requirements of that team and playing time is not guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination, but what it does is it fosters an environment where, especially in middle school, our kids can try new things and develop. As they get into high school, that player development comes back at a higher rate, the strength and conditioning picks up at a higher rate, and that leads to kids wanting to be involved and wanting to be a part of it. Whether they are playing a lot or not playing, they’re still a part of something special.”

“In the middle school, we’re at about 94% of our kids participate in at least one sport and in the upper school, it’s about 83%. It just fosters an environment of wanting to be a part of something that’s a little bit bigger than you.”

Bourgeois, who has been at ESA since 1998 and took over as Athletic Director shortly after, said that having a full-time AD on staff that doesn’t have to also coach a sport is something more schools should try to implement.

“Being a full-time athletic director allows you to fully help your coaches be successful,” Bourgeois said. “Because I don’t have to worry about coaching any sport, I get to coach the coaches and I’m able to take things off of their plate. That allows them, first, to be effective classroom teachers and then, second, it allows them to be highly effective coaches because they don’t have to worry about all the other stuff. I really wish every school would invest in a full-time athletic director. I still help with some classes, because I like to be connected to the kids, but the role of the athletic director is to make sure that the coaches have all the resources to be successful, and that’s hard to do if you’re also coaching a sport.”

With 96 state titles already to its name, ESA has a shot at moving ever closer to the century mark this season. Bourgeois gave updates on how each fall sport is looking ahead of the 2024-25 season.

“Let’s start with swimming. Our girls have won three state championships in a row and our boys were state runners-up last year,” he said. “We have a lot of returning swimmers with a great staff, so they have high expectations. Cross country as well, they always have high expectations. Volleyball is the same thing.”

Bourgeois said that the rest of the year’s sports will have similar chances to make it to the state championships. While the boys soccer program lost several seniors last season, most teams are returning quite a few starters. Regardless of the sport, Bourgeois said the goal remains the same each year.

“We don’t talk about winning state or make the expectation that we must win state. I tell our coaches that I don’t care if we win or lose and people look at me like I’m crazy when I say that. What I mean by that is that if our kids act right and play hard, everything is going to work out. For some teams, winning state is a realistic goal. For others, it may not be realistic. As we are progressing through the season, we’re not going to judge our success or failure by how far we get, we’re going to judge it on whether or not that team met the standard they set for the year.”

In order to get athletes to focus on the bigger picture in life, ESA implements a culture of independence and maturity campus-wide that Bourgois said is a key component of keeping athletics in perspective.

Our school motto is ‘journey to independence,’” Bourgeois explained. “Our job is not only to prepare these kids for college, but for life. The reality is that our motto is embraced athletically, academically, spiritually and emotionally. That fosters a ‘next play’ mentality because, as with anything in life, you’re going to have successes and failures. We don’t want to always figure it out for them. That journey to independence allows our kids to mature at a different rate and be prepared for whatever is thrown at them. We are very intentional at it and sometimes that means allowing our kids to succeed or fail on their own.”

The Falcons will kick off the fall sports season on September 2 when both the cross country and swimming seasons officially start. The volleyball team will begin its season with an away game against Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy on September 3.

ESA’s 96 State Championships

Volleyball

1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006

(The ESA volleyball team holds the national record for most consecutive state championships at 16.)

Track & Field

Girls State Champions: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Boys State Champions: 2023, 2024

Tennis

Girls State Champions: 1984, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010

Boys State Champions: 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2013

Swimming

Boys State Champions: 2005

Girls State Champions: 2021, 2022, 2023

Soccer

Boys State Champions: 1990, 2018

Golf

Boys State Champions: 1991, 1992, 1993, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023

Cross Country

Boys State Champions: 1984, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022

Girls State Champions: 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020

Rugby

Boys State Champions: 2006, 2009

ESA Athletes of the Year

1982-83: Paul Henderson, Ashley Smith

1983-84: Jonathan Hartiens, Jane Guidry

1984-85: Mike Bryan, Joan Heymann

1985-86: Clint Freeland, Marion Olivier, Jenny Rogers

1986-87: Sam Thompson, Amy Fras

1987-88: Todd Delcambre, Christina Smith

1988-89: Eric Maddux, Jennifer Wooderson

1989-90: James Doherty, Jennifer Wooderson

1990-91: Kris Cox, Charlotte Pettus

1991-92: Robby Leger, Valerie Broussard

1992-93: Chris Stec, Mary-Ayres Lewis

1993-94: Robby Leger, Susan Aurich

1994-95: Andon Briggs, Josh Plumley, Elizabeth Hill

1995-96: Andy Langford, Katie Frayard

1996-97: Meyer Friedman, Katie Frayard

1997-98: Matt Mahony, Jennifer Movassaghi

1998-99: Chris Herrington, Kate Landry

1999-00: Miles Bruder, Lindsey Meador

2000-01: Will Landry, Stacey Young

2001-02: Matt Dembowski, Stacey Young, Kady Bourgeois

2002-03: Quinn Salmon, Leigh Godchaux

2003-04: Quinn Salmon, Emily Burgin

2004-05: Adam Gulotta, Elizabeth McGehee

2005-06: Tim Rinaldi, Lillian Guidry

2006-07: Tim Rinaldi, Shawn Rice, Sophie Dardant

2007-08: Lukas Fox, Sarah Cole

2008-09: Camden Cornwell, Ainsley Daigle

2009-10: Alex Elkins, Adrian Brown

2010-11: Walker Gates, Spencer Hales, Kaitlyn Cornwell

2011-12: JJ Jacquet, Jessica Boagni

2012-13: Kyle Herrera, Adela Munson

2013-14: Alex Plauché, Elasha Williams

2014-15: Brayden Hernandez, Claire Storment

2015-16: Riley Nickel, Sarah Pierre

2016-17: Cole McKay, Mason Shuffler, Samantha Withers

2017-18: Danny Ahluwalia, Samantha Withers

2018-19: Oliver Nickel, Samantha Withers, Kailie Williams

2019-20: Not awarded

2020-21: Adam Sabbaghian, Christian Herpin, Ava-Grace Hebert, Aline Malek

2021-2022: Ethan Harson, Richard Magann, Ayden Brown, Taylor Guillotte

2022-2023: Ian Allam, Greer Hernandez, Irene Kaiser

2023-2024: Evan Lipari, Anna Breaux, Ella Walton