St. Thomas More’s Kim Broussard is currently in his second decade as the school’s athletic director. He joined STM in 1984 and has coached basketball, baseball, tennis and cross country. Broussard took time out this week to discuss the current and future state of STM athletics.
Question: When do you become AD and what have you learned in your time in that leadership role?
Answer: The year was 1999 and the biggest thing is the aspect of dealing with and managing being an athletics director. I was a coach for 15 years and now I oversee 17 sports. It’s about managing my time and treating every sports fairly and equally.
Q: How would you describe the state of STM athletics right now?
A: It’s evident that it’s the best. We have been selected by Max Preps as No. 1 in Louisiana. We’re very proud and excited. You can’t beat that, to be number one in the state and 36 in the country.
Q: Football season is underway, what are you looking forward to the most about this season?
A: It’s just a continuation of the success that we’ve had here. There’s a big target on our back. We have high expectations. We are currently ranked number one in the state in class 4A. You know there are high expectations but we’re used to that. That’s the standard that we set here at St. Thomas More, a standard of excellence and the standard of success. So we deal with that constant pressure year in and year out. We’re returning a good number of players from last year. It looks very promising for having another successful year. You know, we do have a really pretty difficult schedule that we have to face along with a very competitive district schedule. We’re looking for a very promising and successful football season.
Q: How proud are you of where STM athletics stands right now across the board?
A: I can’t be more excited. And I’m truly blessed to be able to work with the coaching staff that we have here at St. Thomas. People always ask me often ask me, “What’s the key to the success of your practice?” The first key ingredient to me is stability of coaches. I’ve got coaches on my staff that have been here for 30-plus years. I’ve got four assistant coaches here that could be a head coach at a number of schools in the area. You know that combination along with the buy in from our athletes to parental support. We’ve got a great and an outstanding weight and conditioning program. I am a firm believer that a team is not made during the season. A team is made in the offseason. We put a lot of emphasis and focus in the offseason. Our weight program in the summertime is top notch. So I’m a believer in that offseason and I think what it comes down to each individual season our athletes are prepared. Frankly I’d like to say every sport goes through that program in the summertime but practically the good majority go through their summer program so that gets them ready for their upcoming season.
Q: What are some projects that are coming up involving the programs?
A: Currently we are under construction. We don’t have a ticket booth. We’ve been selling admission tickets under a tent or in a trailer and we started construction on a ticket booth that is hopefully to be completed this week. That’s going to be a very nice air-conditioned building.So that’s a project that’s currently underway right now. We also have a long range plan project in place. We’re looking at the athletic and fitness center that will house dressing rooms, coaches offices and a training room. A brand new expanded weight room. So that’s another big project that’s on the horizon. We’re also building a brand new concession and restroom storage facility near our softball and tennis court. So a lot of projects are underway right now and again that just adds to the mystique of this excellent school and this excellent athletic program.