Two months away from 2019 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductions

NATCHITOCHES – With Peyton Manning and Les Miles headlining a star-studded induction class, ticket sales are brisk for the 60th Annual Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration just a few weeks away on June 6-8.

Ticket sales and participation opportunities are available through secure online transactions at LaSportsHall.com or by calling the Hall of Fame Foundation office at 318-238-4255 (238-HALL).

Three days of activities culminate with the 60th Annual Induction Dinner and Ceremonies presented by State Farm Insurance Agents of Louisiana on Saturday evening, June 8, at the Natchitoches Events Center.

A free Friday evening concert on the Rue Beauport Riverfront on Cane River Lake in historic downtown Natchitoches, including a fireworks show, is presented by Rapides Regional Medical Center. The adjacent VIP Taste of Tailgating party sponsored by MidSouth Bank is in an air-conditioned, fully catered tent near the stage and is a ticketed event.

Festivities begin with the La Capitol Kickoff Reception from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, June 6, free to the public in the Hall of Fame Museum at 800 Front Street.

Friday’s slate opens in Alexandria at the BOM 80’s Retro Bowling Bash hosted by Four Seasons Bowling Center beginning at 11:30. Advance entries are necessary.

Saturday’s schedule starts with the Junior Training Camp, presented by the Natchitoches Regional Medical Center and the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office, from 9-11 a.m. at the Webb Wellness and Recreation Center and Turpin Stadium on the Northwestern State campus. It is free to the first 300 children ages 6-16 who register on the LaSportsHall.com website.

A first-time ticketed event provides more access to the 2019 inductees: the Round Table Brunch at the Chateau St. Denis Hotel from noon-1:30 on Saturday, June 8.

Manning, the five-time NFL Most Valuable Player, and Miles, the former LSU football coach who won 77 percent of his games and a national championship in 11 seasons with the Tigers, join five-time USA Olympic volleyball standout Danielle Scott among a star-studded group of eight competitive ballot inductees chosen for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

The LSHOF Class of 2019 also includes championship coaches Roger Cador (Southern University baseball) and Charles Smith (Alexandria-Peabody Magnet high school basketball), Louisiana Tech quarterback and Canadian Football League Hall of Fame member Matt Dunigan, along with LSU football great Max Fugler, an All-American on the Tigers’ 1958 national championship team, and T.B. “T. Berry” Porter, a member of the Rodeo Hall of Fame.

Also honored with enshrinement this summer are influential sportswriter and editor Philip Timothy and iconic Louisiana Tech broadcaster Dave Nitz, who were selected for the 2019 Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism. Louisiana College graduate Marie Gagnard, the first Louisiana native to become a professional tennis umpire, will be inducted as the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award winner.

The 2019 Induction Class will be showcased in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Museum, operated by the Louisiana State Museum system in a partnership with the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. The striking $23 million, two-story, 27,500-square foot structure faces Cane River Lake in the National Historic Landmark District of Natchitoches and has garnered worldwide architectural acclaim and rave reviews for its contents since its grand opening during the 2013 Hall of Fame induction weekend.