Sugar Bowl

Courtney Ward, the Sacred Heart basketball coach that guided her team to unprecedented success, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s New Orleans Girls Prep Coach of the Year for 2024-25. The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month and each year’s Hall of Fame class. The Sports Awards Committee has recognized outstanding high school coaches for the New Orleans area since 1962. Ward is the first Sacred Heart coach to be recognized by the committee.
 
Ward, the third-year coach of the Sacred Heart girls basketball team, did something that many people in New Orleans thought impossible: leading the Cardinals to the state championship game. Ward set her plan in motion by entering her team in summer league competition for the first time, adding a rigid strength and conditioning program, and beefing up the schedule. While Sacred Heart didn’t win many games against larger-enrollment schools, “we did play them close,” Ward said. “It was a good measurement to see where we are and where we could be.”
 
The result was a No. 2 playoff seed and a win over Holy Savior Menard in the LHSAA Division III quarterfinals for the Cardinals’ first-ever semifinal appearance. Their magical run continued as they knocked off No. 3 Rosepine in the state semifinals, 43-40, to reach the championship game. Despite losing in the state championship game, it was a memorable season for the Cardinals.
 
“Being able to make history for your school is not something that everyone gets to say,” said senior Bria Egana.
 
Athletic director Sue Bower said, “I’ve been talking with alumni and they’re like, ‘Basketball is good?’ They’re really good, yeah.”
 
In addition to Ward, the finalists for the Outstanding Girls Prep Coach honor were Doug Freese (Isidore Newman Soccer), Ashley Miller (Haynes Volleyball), and Danny Tullis (Slidell Volleyball). Freese directed Newman to a 7-0 victory over top-seeded Loyola Prep in the Division IV state championship match – the largest margin of victory in a title match since at least the 1980s – for the Greenies third straight championship. Miller guided Haynes to a state championship match for the first time in school history and the Yellow jackets posted a five-set victory over top-seeded Hannan to earn the LHSAA Division III title. Tullis, who has now won seven state titles, helped Slidell become the first public school to win a Division I volleyball championship since 2011 as the Tigers upended four-time reigning state champ Dominican in four sets.

The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee came together 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 and a variety of annual award winners. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, 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 athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month as well as a range of annual awards – the honors enter their 69th year in 2025.
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 110 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 91-year history. The 92nd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2026. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade.