Carrying the flag

By: TONY MARKS
Editor

NATCHITOCHES — It may not be as good as when a priest, a pastor, and a rabbi walked into a bar, but did you hear the one about a gymnast, a boxer, a coach, a director, and a lineman going into the hall of fame?
That actually happened on Saturday, June 28, as five representatives of the state’s flagship university were among the 12-member class that was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
Among the honorees was George “Bobby” Soileau, of Ville Platte.
After making a name for himself as one of the most dominant boxers, which included claiming multiple high school championships and an individual NCAA title for LSU’s nationally-renowned program, the Ville Platte native became a championship-winning football coach at his alma mater -- Sacred Heart High School. Soileau’s first boxing state title came in the eighth grade in the 90-pound weight class in 1950. He followed with the 100-pound crown in 1951, the 110-pound crown in 1952 and 125-pound crown in 1954. His lone defeat at state came his junior year in 1953 when he lost the 115-pound title match to Bruce Boudreaux, which is considered one of the greatest fights in state history. Soileau, known for his powerful left jab, was awarded the Francis G. Brink Trophy as a senior which was given to the state’s best boxer. In his five-year prep boxing career, Soileau went 96-2-1 and was inducted into the inaugural Louisiana High School Boxing Hall of Fame in 2013. As a sophomore at LSU, who signed him to a boxing scholarship, he helped the Tigers to a 7-1-1 dual-meet record and won the 1956 NCAA national title in the 125-pound (featherweight) division.
Soileau’s son, Robert, represented his dad over the induction weekend and said the family is humbled by the honor. “It’s just incredible when you come and see all the athletes who are here,” he said, “and I know (my dad) would be humble. He would be humble, but, at the same time, he would be ready to party because he was a guy who liked to get after it and rock and roll.
“He would be so excited,” Robert said about his father. “When he walked into the room, there was never a stranger. He was friends with everyone. He would speak to everyone. He was just that type of guy, but he would be very humbled. And, the family’s just so excited for the opportunity for him to be in the class with the athletes who are here.”
Robert recalled an opportunity in 2017 when he and his dad met with fellow LSHOF inductee Billy Cannon in Ville Platte at the home of Judge John Saunders. Soileau and Cannon were friends in college, and Cannon attended every one of Soileau’s fights.
“The whole City of Ville Platte was there,” Robert said. “I walked in, and (Billy) is sitting on the side of my dad. He’s 80 at the time, and my dad is 81 or 82. They were sitting and visiting, and he whispered something to my dad. I read his lips, and he said, ‘He looks a lot like you.’ So, I walked up to him, and he shook my hand with his paw because his hands are huge. I was like this guy right here is the legend. He’s the man.”
Robert continued, “(Billy) starts telling me, ‘Your dad had the fastest hands I have ever seen in my life. I’ve never missed a single fight your dad ever fought at LSU.’ I’m looking at this guy who was everything, and he’s talking about my dad. I said the stories they said about my dad boxing at LSU must be true because ‘The Legend’ is telling me how fast he was and how good he was.”
After his boxing career was shortened when LSU disbanded the program and he suffered a shoulder injury, Soileau became a high school football coach and returned to his alma mater in the mid-1960’s. In 30 seasons at Sacred Heart, he compiled a record of 159-100-9 in winning at least a share of nine district titles. He won the state Class B title in 1967 with a 13-1 record and was the state runner-up in Class 1A in 1971.
“I was his son,” Robert said, “but every athlete he coached, whether it was a young man or a young woman, was one of his kids because he communicated with them just like they were his kids. He told them what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. That’s just the way he coached, and he wasn’t going to change. He was hard. He was a disciplinarian, and he was a guy who believed in conditioning. He always said, ‘We might not win the first, second, or third, quarter, but I guarantee we will win in the fourth because we’re going to be in condition. That’s how he coached, and he never changed from the time he started to the end.”
As Robert said, even though his father is battling dementia, he can still throw one of his signature left punches.
“It’s amazing,” Robert expressed. “When I get into his room, I always say, ‘Hey, put your hands up. Let’s go. Get on the balls of your feet.’ And, he’ll throw some punches. There’s no way an 89-year-old man can be like that. His hands are super fast.”
Also going into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame from LSU were gymnast April Burkholder, national championship winning coach Nick Saban, Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award winner Herb Vincent, and Super Bowl winner Andrew Whitworth.