Ryan Sims named new athletic director at St. Augustine

You can go home again. Home is where the heart is.

Ryan Sims is home and where his heart has always been.

Sims has been named as the new athletic director at St. Augustine, his alma mater.

Sims, Class of 1997, most recently served as athletic director at Booker T. Washington for the last six years, presiding over returning athletics to the school after the school returned six years ago in 2016.

Sims returns to St. Augustine, where he coached baseball at St. Augustine for three years previously (2013-15).

Sims also served as an assistant baseball coach at Hahnville under current Archbishop Rummel coach Frank Cazeaux in 2005 and 2006 and worked at East St. John as a coach from 2006-10.

“It is a true blessing,” Sims said. “I am happy to return to my alma mater and be placed in a position to run athletics. I’m excited and just want to build on the storied tradition of the school and make sure I follow the tradition of all the great people before me.”

Sims reveres what the school has done for him and for so many who have gone on to great success in life.

“There were so many people at St. Augustine who made a difference in my life from my coaches to my teachers to the priests at the school,” Sims said. “The brotherhood of being at St. Aug every day and the positive nature and positive role models that come from the school made a difference in my life. It all started at home with my father and mother but St. Augustine played a huge role in my development.”

Sims inherits a good athletic program and wants to maintain that level of success and build on it.

“The biggest thing I would love to accomplish more than winning championships is to make sure our young men have a chance to live a complete life academically and athletically,” Sims said. “We must make sure we run a principled program from top to bottom and do things the right way.”

A new health and wellness center is underway on campus which can transform the school and enhance its future.

“We are trending upward in enrollment right now,” Sims said. “We are in the middle of construction and upgrades to the physical campus which will help. We have 100 percent college acceptance with our students. It’s been tough for all schools coming out of the pandemic. I believe we will continue to trend upward. The kids, coaches and teachers work hard and that is what will make us successful.”

The gym, which endured a fire back on November 25 of last year, is under repair with the hope that it will be ready before the end of this year.

Tech giant LG Electronics committed $150,000 to St. Augustine to create a scholarship endowment and to help rebuild the gym, which saw damage to the roof, bleachers and floor of the facility.

Barret Rey, who served as athletic director intermittently over the past six years (2017-2022), will continue as baseball coach of the Purple Knights.