Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month

The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the 1971 creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month – the honors enter their 65th year in 2021. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region. Each of the monthly award winners are honored in the summer at the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony, hosted by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Christian Westcott, the star shortstop for the New Orleans Boosters baseball team, was selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month for August after leading his team to the All American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) Championship in Johnstown, Pa.

Westcott earned AAABA Tournament MVP honors after hitting a scintillating .552 with 16 hits including two doubles and a triple and 14 runs batted in. He also had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage while turning four double plays. In the title game, Westcott went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs and four RBIs.

The Boosters won the franchise’s 17th AAABA Tournament championship with a one-sided 17-6, seven-inning victory over the New Brunswick Matrix on Saturday, August 7 at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point in Johnstown, Pa. The Boosters, who were a perfect 6-0 in the tournament while outscoring their opponents 85-19, pounded out eight runs in the bottom of the first inning and continued to build on the margin throughout the title game.

Westcott, who plays football and baseball at Southeastern Louisiana, also earned the Amateur Athlete of the Month honor for September of 2019 after a dominant month for the Lakeshore High School football team.

Also nominated for the August honor was Xavier University of Louisiana’s Vivica Price-Spraggins and talented junior golfer Sarah Meral. Price-Spraggins opened the 2021 volleyball season by being named the Red River Athletic Conference Attacker of the Week for August 23-29. A fifth-year middle blocker from Chicago, Price-Spraggins produced 12 kills, two blocks and four digs and hit .409 in 22 attacks in the Gold Nuggets’ season-opening five-set loss to Wayland Baptist. The award is the sixth of Price-Spraggins’ career. She is tied for fifth in weekly awards in XULA volleyball history. Meral, meanwhile, won the Allstate Sugar Bowl Fall Series golf tournament event at Beau Chene Country Club as part of the Kelly Gibson Junior Golf Tour on August 14-15. A senior at St. Scholastica Academy, Meral placed second in the LHSAA Division I state championship in May and was the runner-up in the 2021 Louisiana Golf Association Women’s State Amateur Championship.

The Committee would also like to give special recognition to the Jefferson Parish Parks and Recreation Department (JPRD) 8U softball team, which won the Babe Ruth World Series for its age group in Florida in early August. These girls made history being the first JPRD 8 and under team to compete in a franchised tournament. “When they get on their field, there’s no playing,” said Coach Monique Duvernay. “They are ready. They’re on fire.”