Alleva, Fritz, Strief, Rojas, Brown to speak at Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation QB Club opening luncheon

NEW ORLEANS – The 80th year of the historic Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation Quarterback Club presented by Home Bank kicks off at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 28 at iconic Rock’n’Bowl, 3016 South Carrollton Avenue.

Speakers for the first meeting include LSU athletic director Joe Alleva, Tulane head football coach Willie Fritz, New Orleans Saints alumnus and current Saints play-by-play announcer Zach Strief, New Orleans Baby Cakes general manager Augusto “Cookie” Rojas and Edna Karr head football coach Brice Brown.

In his 11th year at LSU, Alleva has expertly managed the department’s finances and operations, making LSU one of the nation’s top 10 programs in terms of revenue, profit, ticket sales and investment into its student-athletes and athletic endeavors. Alleva also owns the title of vice chancellor, a position he has held since 2009. Alleva previously served as athletic director at Duke.

Entering his third season as the head coach at Tulane, Fritz has the Green Wave on the cusp of being a winner after narrowly missing being bowl eligible a year ago. In 21 years as a head coach at Central Missouri, Sam Houston State, Georgia Southern and Tulane, Fritz has won 163 games while losing just 84.

Named recently as the new radio play-by-play voice of the New Orleans Saints, Strief played in 158 games for the Saints from 2006-2017 before retiring following the 2017 season. He was named first-team All-Pro by Pro Football Focus in 2013 and was part of the Super Bowl XLIV championship team in the 2009 season.

In his third year as senior vice president and general manager of the New Orleans Baby Cakes, Rojas came to New Orleans from Pawtucket, where he worked for owner and now Baby Cakes owner Lou Schwechheimer as sales manager. A former marine who served in the Persian Gulf War, Rojas also served as general manager for Brown Bears Sports Properties at Brown University.

In his fourth season as head coach at his alma mater, Brown was a player and former assistant coach at Edna Karr before being named head coach in 2015. Brown promptly guided the Cougars to a Class 4A state championship game appearance before leading Karr to consecutive Class 4A state titles in 2016 and 2017.

The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation Quarterback Club welcomes Home Bank as its presenting sponsor in 2018.

Speakers from the New Orleans Saints, LSU, Tulane and Prep football will address the audience weekly, along with special guest speakers from the sports world locally and nationally.

A local high school player of the week is chosen throughout the season with a metro prep player of the year announced at the end of the season, sponsored by the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Lunch is served weekly every Tuesday.

In addition, Chevron sponsors student-athletes of the week each week, who receive plaques and recognition for their accomplishments in the classroom.

Annual standard membership is $50. Luncheons are $20 per person for members and $25 per person for non-members for the 16 week schedule (Aug. 28-Dec. 11). All are welcome to attend.

CrescentCitySports.com serves as the official web site of the GNOSF Quarterback Club while Compliance Technology Group remains a sponsor as well, along with WGSO 990am. Weekly releases and the list of weekly speakers can be found at CrescentCitySports.com.

For more information on joining the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation Quarterback Club, contact Stan Kottemann at (504) 908-6080 or at skotlaw@aol.com.

For more information on the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation Membership program, visit www.gnosports.com or contact Tricia Lowe at (504) 619-6114 or at tlowe@gnosf.org.

**The GNOSF Quarterback Club also offers a season ticket package, covering dues and all 16 luncheons for a significant savings over the course of the season.