Tourney brings Bobcats together

By Tom Dodge
tom.dodge@eunicetoday.com

Time sure flies when you are having fun.
The eighth annual Eunice High School Alumni Tournament will be held Aug. 22-24, 2014 at the Recreation complex.
The deadline to sign up with a team is Aug. 10 before the captains’ meeting.
The meeting is set for 5 p.m. in the EHS library.
Rosters are locked once a team begins play in their first game.
There were 34 teams in last year’s tournament after being rained out two years ago.
“The younger classes are always fired up to play,” Tara LeBlanc said. “That helps make up as some of the older classes stop playing in the tournament.”
For Sandifer Burson, the best part of the tournament is the return of all the former Bobcats.
“It is a reunion,” she said. “Who doesn’t like a reunion?
“This is a chance to see someone more often than just a five-year reunion.”
The tournament is one of the biggest EHS fundraisers each year.
“All the money the alumni generates we give to Renaissance, testing T-shirts, Top Cats, homecoming tea, Girl’s State and other things,” LeBlanc said.
“If we don’t have this event we can’t give back to the present students at Eunice High.”
LeBlanc said it is a fun event as the classes compete against each other.
“The hotels, gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants all get money from this weekend, Burson said. “A lot of the alumni who return don’t have much if any family left in Eunice so they have to stay somewhere.”
“It is a wonderful way to get the graduates together as a school-wide reunion,” Becky Sonnier said.
“The younger alumni can’t wait until they can play in the tournament.
“It is great for our school but it is also great for the city that weekend,” she said. “Everybody wins.”