Two Kaplan men have combined 40 years of experience being a volunteer coach in Vermilion Parish

KAPLAN - Cajun Youth Sports (CYS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the youth in Vermilion and surrounding parishes. Originally established in 1972, CYS has been under the leadership of Robert Morvant for the past 25 years. CYS offers youth tackle and flag football, soccer, basketball, and cheerleading. The organization relies heavily on local volunteers and sponsors.
The CYS football season begins in August and ends in November.
Two area football coaches, Abraham “Ham” Turner and Patrick “Pat” LeBlanc Sr., have been volunteering with Cajun Youth Sports for many years.
Robert Morvant had this to say about their involvement, “We love them; they do a great job! It’s more than just coaching a sport, they have become family to CYS. Times are changing and it’s becoming harder and harder to find volunteers. A lot of little league coaches don’t get the credit that they should. Abraham and Patrick are awesome! It would not be CYS without them.”
Abraham “Ham” Turner has been coaching with Cajun Youth Sports for 27 years. He coaches football, as well as basketball and baseball. He started out coaching the older boys in football, but eventually moved down to the 6-8 year old division. Ham states, “I like coaching because it’s all for the kids. We try to get the boys involved in football when they’re young so they’ll be ready to play in middle school.”
Turner played high school football in his youth and it gives him the added experience needed when teaching incoming players the basics of the game. Ham is an easy going person, and his laid back coaching style reflects this, making him popular among the kids. Turner’s team made it to the Super Bowl one time, and they won that title. Throughout the years, Ham has coached many children – one of which now plays college football.
This current season will be Turner’s last year coaching football, due to time constraints and other obligations. He will miss it, and had this to say, “I love coaching. Robert is great to work with. The kids are nice, and there are good parents.”
In regards to working under Morvant, Ham stated, “Robert is a very good person. He is someone I can call and talk to at any time, even in the middle of the night. He is very helpful. He is good with the kids, and for him CYS is all for the kids.”
Turner is married to Tiffany. He has seven kids, and fourteen grandchildren.
Patrick “Pat” LeBlanc, Sr. started coaching 18 years ago when his son, Pat Jr., began playing football with CYS at the age of 8. Patrick continued coaching, even after his son became too old to play with the league, because he enjoyed it and also because he, “did it for the kids.” For the past thirteen years, Pat’s son has helped him coach the boys’ 9 - 10-year-old division.
LeBlanc’s favorite part of coaching is teaching the kids to love the game. He says, “I like teaching kids to enjoy playing football. It’s not a win or lose situation. We don’t even worry about that in our league. We try to teach them to enjoy it and to like football, in order to encourage them to want to play in high school.”
The only complaint about coaching that Pat has are the hot days, and he wishes the season started a little later in the year.
Over the years, LeBlanc’s coaching style has changed somewhat. “I have mellowed out. I don’t let things get to me the way they did in the past,” he reveals.
Pat says that football is a good learning tool for the kids. “A lot of kids want to stay inside on the computer nowadays, this helps them to get outside and stay physically active.”
For Patrick, the thrill of coaching is seeing the players learn the game, and then getting to watch them play in high school.
Out of all the children he has coached over the years, one now plays for LSU, another for Arizona State, and another is fighting in Afghanistan. LSU player Duke Riley, #40, is the best athlete LeBlanc ever had the privilege of coaching.
Duke and his family were transplants from New Orleans who arrived in Kaplan after Hurricane Katrina. Even though he was only here for one season before moving back, LeBlanc says it was evident that the young Riley would one day be a star. “I could see the talent. The talented kids are the ones you don’t have to teach; they know what to do.”
In the past eighteen years, Patrick’s team has made it to the Super Bowl seven times, winning three titles. He doesn’t plan on retiring anytime soon; but if his son was ever able to find a job closer to home, then he would consider passing the coaching duty completely onto him. In addition to coaching, LeBlanc is a board member of CYS’s Kaplan Football League. He is married to Rose, and the couple has two children and two grandkids.
Pat has this to say about working under Morvant’s leadership, “Robert is fantastic. He will do whatever he can for the kids. Everything he does is for the youth of our area.”