2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 59
BY SENATOR PERRY AND REPRESENTATI VE HENSGENS
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To commend Randall Bertrand, coach of the girls' basketball team at Gueydan High School,
upon the occasion of being named Louisiana Class 1A Coach of the Year in girls'
basketball for the 2016-2017 season.
WHEREAS, Randall Bertrand is the coach of the girls' basketball team at Gueydan
High School in Gueydan, Louisiana, a small town in the heart of Acadiana; and
WHEREAS, Coach Bertrand led his Honey Bears girls' basketball team to the Class
1A State Championship in 2017 and was selected both Vermilion Parish Coach of the Year
and Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 1A State Coach of the Year for the
2016-2017 school year; and
WHEREAS, Randall Bertrand remarked that the question he was asked most
frequently at the state championship tournament, known as "Marsh Madness", was, "Where's
Gueydan?"; and
WHEREAS, Coach Bertrand was confident of his team's abilities, and especially
their dominating defensive play, which held their opponent, the Lady Canes from North
Central High School in Lebeau, Louisiana, to twenty-nine percent shooting in the first half
and seventeen percent in the second half of the championship game; and
WHEREAS, Coach Bertrand has been a history teacher and girls' basketball coach
at Gueydan High School for the past eight years and he has taught for a total of eleven years
in Acadia and Vermilion parishes; and
WHEREAS, after graduating from Indian Bayou High School in Vermilion Parish
in 1983, Randall Bertrand married and settled down to raise his family in Acadia Parish and
worked in the petrochemical industry in Calcasieu Parish for thirteen years; and
WHEREAS, Coach Bertrand initially dreamt of becoming a basketball referee,
having played basketball in high school, and he refereed for eleven years at the elementary,
junior high, and high school levels as a hobby; and
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WHEREAS, while Coach Bertrand's children attended Morse Elementary in Acadia
Parish, he volunteered to coach both the girls' and boys' basketball teams at the school and
he also established the Midland Lil Dribblers Organization to recruit parents to assist with
coaching teams of various ages, and served as president of the group for eight years; and
WHEREAS, while coaching as a volunteer, Randall Bertrand realized that teaching
and coaching basketball was his dream career, and he enrolled in Louisiana State University
at Eunice, Louisiana, at the age of thirty-six to begin working toward that dream; and
WHEREAS, Coach Bertrand worked full time at a local vitamin production facility
in Acadia Parish while in school in Eunice and upon completion of his studies at LSU-E, he
transferred to McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he earned a
bachelor of science degree in physical education with a minor in history; and
WHEREAS, as a coach, teacher, father, and husband, Randall Bertrand has set a high
bar for his own achievement in each of these roles, serving as an example of working hard
to become who he wanted to be in life, while fulfilling his responsibility to provide for his
family; and
WHEREAS, Coach Bertrand brought his passion and commitment to his role of
coach to lead the young women of the Gueydan Honey Bears to achieve their full potential
as a basketball team, while teaching them the life skills and the attitude to live a life filled
with their best effort every day and in every endeavor.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
commend Randall Bertrand, coach of the girls' basketball team at Gueydan High School,
upon the occasion of being named Louisiana Class 1A Coach of the Year in girls' basketball
for the 2016-2017 season.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Coach Randall Bertrand.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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