It’s a new year for Tara High School, and with that brings hope and excitement for an improved football team to find some long sought after success. The future looks much brighter than the past with 3rd year Head Coach Reginald Ware Jr at the helm. His previous job as the head coach of a middle school that many kids go to before attending Tara has helped him immensely in the development of his football program.
“It’s been a kind of culture shock seeing the difference on the back end as to getting them early and developing their skills. It’s a good thing I had that middle school background to come to Tara High School because most of the players we inherited, we had to get back to the basic fundamental skills with them. But it’s so good to see these young men doing well and working out in the world today.”
Tara Head Coach Reginald Ware Jr
When you are building a program without a long history of success, the players you have that lead that team have a huge impact on the culture that you create. Coach Ware believes in the leaders in his locker room; he is confident that they are setting the right example for the rest of his team.
“Eldon Spears is a stand up guy. He’s been with me since middle school, and he never let me down. He’s at 100% of the practices, 100% of the workouts, and I see the program in him. What I expect the program to be and where I expect the program to be is what I see with this guy. Awesome leader, fearless competitor on the field, not afraid to voice his opinion about things. Lenmorrow Lawrence anchors that offensive line down. He’s one of the smallest guys, but he has the ability to get all the bigger guys to comply and do what they are supposed to do out on the field. Of course, Adrian Coleman, the guy just doesn’t know his own abilities. He thought he was an average kid, and he’s much more special than that. Zavion Smith is a nice sized lineman. He’s 6’3″ 300 pounds and he can move pretty good. I can honestly tell you he has been working out in the weight room.”
Tara Head Coach Reginald Ware Jr
It’s a long uphill road for Tara High School, but the progress the school has made in just the last few years is incredibly promising. It’s not just the football team; everything in the school is on its way to immense improvement. When the culture around an entire school changes, that’s a great sign on the future of the team as well.
“The greatest thing, honestly, since I’ve been there is that we probably will be a C school. It was a forever F school, and now it’s possibly going to be a C school. Now everything is coming into play to turn the school around. Athletically, things are going to change. We’ve already made a change in baseball and soccer. It’s building some kind of positive momentum at the school, and I think it is going to be something great this year.”
Tara Head Coach Reginald Ware Jr
Tara finds itself having to fight through a gauntlet of a district in the Baton Rouge area. The district contains 9 teams, which means 8 of the 10 games Tara plays this year will be district games. They are all tough opponents, but that also means Tara will have plenty of opportunities to prove itself as a team to be taken seriously. Games against the likes of Istrouma, Plaquemine, and West Feliciana are all exciting chances for Tara to face great competition.
“It’s a tough district, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. If you’re not there to work out and be committed, you’re going to have some issues.”
Tara Head Coach Reginald Ware Jr
As great of a job has Coach Ware has done, he’s not the only member of the coaching staff. He has a number of assistants from varying backgrounds that provide help for the team as well as an athletic director who used to coach at Tara himself. That kind of support is what fuels Coach Ware’s ability to keep building the program up year after year.
“Those are phenomenal coaches, and they all help in trying to get this thing together. There are a lot of moving parts in trying to get a school like Tara High changed based on where everybody is from.”
Tara Head Coach Reginald Ware Jr
Tara football went through a couple of really tough years, but that valley might very well be behind them. After a year where the fans came out in droves and cheered for their team, the Tara Trojans want to make sure that continues going into this season.
“Come out and support Tara High School Athletics. The support we had last year was good. We’re going to have a good, strong, physical football team on both sides of the ball.”
Tara Head Coach Reginald Ware Jr
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