[StBernard] Chalmette to field football team in 2006

[Westley Annis]

Chalmette to field football team in 2006
Owls to attempt spring sports in January 
Thursday, November 24, 2005
By Jim Derry
Staff writer 

Chalmette principal Wayne Warner wants some normalcy for his students. 

This week, the school announced it will play football next season, and it
will attempt in January to play basketball, baseball, softball and/or track
and field. Chalmette re-opened Nov. 14, 11 weeks after Hurricane Katrina
struck. 

Boys basketball coach Butch Stockton has returned, and he also will coach
the girls team. Shondra Johnson, who had coached the girls the past two
seasons, is coaching in Alabama and will not return. Assistant girls
basketball coach Rachel Turnage evacuated to Minden with her husband,
baseball coach Buddy Turnage. It is likely neither will return this school
year. 

It is unclear who would coach the baseball team, though assistant coach
Lyall Barwick is back on staff. 

Chalmette's enrollment is down from 742 to 150, Warner estimated. School
officials expect those figures to increase when the new semester starts in
January, and there could be more by the start of next school year. 

"It all depends on how the living conditions are going to be here in St.
Bernard Parish," Warner said. 

Chalmette is drawing students from St. Bernard High and Andrew Jackson,
which will not re-open in the foreseeable future. 

Who will coach the football team also is unclear. Coach Nick Saltaformaggio
remains in the Atlanta area, where he evacuated with his wife. He has been
serving as an assistant defensive coordinator at Central Gwinnett High in
Lawrenceville, Ga., where the Black Knights were 9-4 and advanced to third
round of the playoffs before being eliminated last week. 

Warner said he'd like Saltaformaggio to return. The coach said he will
decide by January. 

Other questions remain before the school can field teams. 

"The question is: Is there enough interest there?" Warner said. "The kids
coming back, do they want to be a part of athletic teams? 

"Also, the second question is in talking to the Louisiana High School
Athletic Association. There are a lot of regulations we are going to have to
follow. An example is just finding kids' birth certificates. Most of them
lost everything, so how do we go about that?" 

Warner contacted the LHSAA by phone Monday, and he wrote a letter to the
association Tuesday. Before he can field teams, Warner said, he will make
sure Chalmette is in compliance with the association's rules. 

If they play basketball, the Owls will have to play its games on the road
because their main gymnasium's floors were destroyed by the storm. The
auxiliary gym is usable as a practice facility. 

"Just like the Saints and Hornets, we can play (the games) somewhere else,"
Warner said. "If the kids want to do it, we're going to find our way over
those hurdles." 

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Jim Derry can be reached at jderry at timespicayune.com or (504) 232-9944.