Louisiana Youth Football Team Forced To Practice With Car Headlights

While playing sports one phrase that constantly comes up is battling adversity. That part of the game teaches you how to overcome tough situations in life that you may not have been prepared for otherwise.

No one resembles this quality better than a local Baldwin youth football team, the Bayou Teche Jaguars. This team and their coach, Coach Kayron Caesar, have been battling the city for years over turning on the park's lights so the team can practice.

Coach Kayron Caesar told KLFY News 10's Dalfred Jones...

“When we get out here as parents, coaches, and just citizens of the community we can’t access the lights. Its become extremely trying when we’re trying to provide something constructive for the kids of the community to keep them off the streets but we are met with this type of resistance".

But like my mom always said - where there is a will, there is a way.

Coach Kayron and his team's parents found a way for the team to be able to practice safely even without the lights. The parents and coaches began to line up their cars on the fence of the field to provide lights for the team to practice safely.

Due to daylight savings and it getting dark around 5 pm so light is necessary for the team to practice safely. As feel-good as this is that this team and coach found a way to overcome, it's still saddening that nothing has been done by the city yet.

The Mayor of Baldwin Abel “Phil” Prejean stated, "People were using the park and just putting the lights on and the next morning they were still on. The Town of Baldwin is financially strapped and that was a consideration in that".

He also added that anyone who wants to use the lights would just need to put in a formal request. However, to me this has been going on for some time now - how hasn't this issue been resolved? Baldwin has to do better as a town and with its leadership.

However, I will say it is still a good lesson to teach these kids that there is always a way. But on a practical level, this issue needs to be resolved so the kids can have the safest environment possible to practice.

See the original report from KLFY News 10 from Facebook below.