In a meeting today at Teurlings, the select schools that are in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association, including local schools Catholic High, Highland Baptist, Hanson and ESA, voted to form a subgroup of the LHSAA, the Louisiana Select Association.

A group of 71 of the 108 select schools in the state, defined by the LHSAA as those schools which control their enrollment, voted overwhelming to form the LSA, selected a CEO, approved board members and discussed the sites and structures on the 2019-2020 select championships across the state in football, boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball.

Catholic High-Baton Rouge athletic director J.P Kelly was voted as the first CEO of the LSA  while CHS principal Dr. Stella Arabie was voted as deputy CEO. Both will serve in their positions until 2020.

Of the schools that were involved in the meeting, 66 voted to approve the LSA’s constitution.

Evangel Christian of Shreveport was the lone no vote and four schools, Ouachita Christian of Monroe and three Baton Rouge schools, McKinley, Lee and Scotlandville, voted to abstain.

The new organization came about as a result of the LHSAA membership approved a series of resolutions that gave the select schools the right to break away from the LHSAA’s traditional championship events in the affected sports.

The original splits in the sports started in 2013 for football while basketball, baseball and softball followed in 2016.

Sites for championship games that have been mentioned include University of Louisiana for  all events; the Alario Center in Westwego for basketball; Tulane for football and baseball and Southeastern Louisiana University for football and basketball.

Highland Baptist principal Tim Sensley told the assembled that UL would offer the select schools the use of its facilities at no cost to the organization except for security and other expenses and could retain all money earned from gate receipts.

Sensley was also chosen as treasurer for the new organziation

According to the original proposal from Teurlings’ Mike Boyer at the LHSAA annual meeting in January, the higher seeded teams are to be the host of  the title game at either at the school or a neutral site should both teams agree.

In the new organization, schools must agree to give up hosting the championship games before any new site is chosen.