More Than a Game: Celebrating Mentorship at Cajun Field
Bigs, Littles, volunteers and community supporters came together for a day of football, connection and BIG moments in Acadiana.
Sometimes mentorship looks like a conversation. Sometimes it looks like throwing a football around at Cajun Field.
Earlier this month, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Acadiana brought together Bigs, Littles, families, volunteers and community supporters for our Flag Football Mentorship Celebration — an opportunity to celebrate the relationships at the heart of our mission while giving young people a day to connect, play and simply have fun.
Throughout the day, Littles took the field for football drills and games alongside Bigs, volunteers and members of our community. But the real impact wasn’t measured by touchdowns or scores.
It was in the encouragement from the sidelines. The high fives after a great play. The adults who showed up and gave their time. And the chance for young people to be surrounded by people who believe in them.
That’s what makes experiences like this important.
Mentorship is built through consistency and connection, but it also grows through shared experiences. Giving Bigs and Littles opportunities to make memories together strengthens those relationships while showing young people just how many people in their community are rooting for them.
It Takes a Community
Our community showed up in a BIG way.
Volunteers from the Lafayette High Mighty Lions and Zeta Xi Alphas at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette joined our partners from Ochsner and Big 102.1 to lend a hand throughout the day.
We were also grateful to welcome friends from Gulf Coast Bank, who generously gave their time to volunteer alongside us.
Our friends at Walk-On’s Lafayette helped keep everyone fueled and added even more fun to the celebration, while the University of Louisiana at Lafayette worked with our team to make Cajun Field the backdrop for a memorable day.
Each organization played a different role, but together they helped create an experience centered around our Littles.
And the support behind a day like this extends even further.
We’re incredibly grateful to all of our Annual Mission Partners whose continued support throughout the year helps make experiences like this possible for our Bigs, Littles and families. Whether they’re alongside us at an event or supporting the mission in other ways, their partnership helps us continue creating opportunities for young people across Acadiana.
That kind of community support matters.
When businesses, schools, organizations and individuals give their time, resources and support to young people, they help create a stronger network around them. For Big Brothers Big Sisters of Acadiana, those relationships allow us to create more opportunities for connection beyond the everyday moments of mentoring.
Mentorship in Motion
Our Flag Football Mentorship Celebration also comes at an exciting time for the broader Big Brothers Big Sisters movement.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is bringing Game On to life across the BBBS network, creating even more opportunities to connect mentorship with sports, movement and play.
Our celebration here in Acadiana was our own local experience, but the connection is a natural one.
Because whether it’s tossing a football, learning a new skill or simply cheering each other on, play creates opportunities for Bigs and Littles to connect in a different way. It gives them something to experience together — and another memory to add to their story.
We’re excited to keep exploring what mentorship in motion can look like here in Acadiana and finding new ways for our Bigs and Littles to get moving, have fun and build memories together.
More Than a Game
At the end of the day, our Flag Football Mentorship Celebration wasn’t really about football.
It was about creating another place for relationships to grow.
It was about a Little getting encouragement from their Big. A volunteer taking the time to make a young person feel included. Families spending time together. And a community showing young people that there are people in their corner.
To everyone who volunteered, partnered with us, supported our mission, cheered from the sidelines or helped make the day possible: thank you.
And to our Bigs and Littles — thank you for reminding us why we do this work.
The football was fun. The relationships are what made the day matter.
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