Lady’s First: Jessica Barber is back home as director of the LHSCA
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
When the opening for the Louisiana High School Coaches Association’s new director was posted, Jessica Barber immediately filled out an application.
Then she waited. And waited some more.
Uncertain about her chances of becoming the first female to hold the position previously held by Eric Held, Barber was set to remain an assistant women’s basketball coach, committing to a spot on Rick Pietri’s staff at Jacksonville State.
“I thought if I wanted to stay in the game, I wanted to be with a head coach that I thought the world of,” Barber said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for the way he runs his program. The interview (for LHSCA director) didn’t look like it was in my favor. I let Coach Pietri know that I was coming on a Thursday.”
With Barber, an assistant coach at Southern Mississippi the past two years, set to embark on a journey to Alabama and sign a lease on a new apartment, LHSCA president Chris Kovatch called on Friday afternoon to gauge her interest in the job.
The 42-year-old native of Franklinton, a former basketball player at Franklinton High and the University of Mobile, considered the position a ‘dream job’, but before accepting Kovatch’s overture, she wanted to talk with Pietri, who extended his approval.
“He wished me the best of luck and didn’t blame me for wanting to stay home and move out of the coaching world and more into the administrative side,” said Barber, one of four candidates to land an interview. “I felt a lot better about his blessing in accepting it. To follow my heart, and I haven’t looked back.”
Three weeks into the job, Barber has enjoyed the different elements that are required of the position. Held sustained for six years before leaving to join LSU’s football program in the role of Director of Alumni/High School Relations.
“I had coached (LHSAA’s assistant executive director) Karen Hoyt’s granddaughter, Ava Shields,” Barber said. “She talked about several things and thought I would be good in their office. When that opportunity came up, I thought it was like a dream job for me. At the time, I was working on my master’s (Sport Administration) as well. I was getting a glimpse of what that side of it looked like, and the more classes I took, the more intrigued I was becoming with that.
“I’ll be able to offer a unique perspective,” Barber said. “Being an assistant coach is the ultimate service that you can provide to a head coach if you do it the right way. This position gives me the opportunity to do that on a much larger scale.”
Kovatch remembered coming away impressed following Barber’s interview.
“She came in more prepared than everyone else; her interview was dynamic,” said Kovatch, boys basketball coach at Carencro High School. “She kind of had an outline of what she would do and wanted to accomplish. At the end of it, she posed questions to the committee about what we thought the job needs to entail more of. What we wanted to see more of from the next director.
“Nobody else did that,” Kovatch said. “That was a big plus and showed that openness and availability of saying, ‘I haven’t done this job before, but tell me what I need to do and I’m going to get it done.’ I think that carried a lot of weight.”
Kovatch emphasized communication being imperative between Barber and all coaches across the state, with the goal of giving student-athletes a supreme experience being of paramount importance.
“It’s also being there to support coaches in any way that’s needed,” he said. “This is the first time a female’s been in that job. She’s kind of pioneering a little bit. I don’t think she’s going to let any label affect the job that she does. It’s all important to her.”
Barber enjoyed a standout playing career at Franklinton, helping the Lady Demons to a state runner-up finish in 1998. She was named the district MVP and top player in the LHSCA’s all-star game as a senior.
She went on to become a record-setting point guard at Mobile, where she was named to the Gulf Coast Conference’s all-academic team four times.
Barber was the league’s Freshman of the Year and was a first-team choice, and still holds the school’s record for career assists with 384.
“I think I’ve had a really great upbringing as it relates to sports,” said Barber, who also played softball at Franklinton.
She transitioned into the coaching world rather quickly, serving as head coach of New Orleans Dominoes’ AAU program for 13 years.
Barber experienced success at both the college and high school levels as well. She spent two years at Loyola-New Orleans before moving with head coach Dobee Plaisance to Nicholls State for two more years.
Following Hurricane Katrina, she was the boys head coach at then Greater Gentilly (now Lake Area New Tech Early College) for two years before taking over the program at Edna Karr and leading the Lady Cougars to a 140-57 record over a six-year period, four district titles and a pair of Class 4A state semifinals.
She was named the District 10-4A Coach of the Year three times and helped develop 12 players who signed college scholarships.
Barber moved closer to home, serving as head coach for two years at Pine High, and then was an assistant at Franklinton for two more seasons.
Barber returned to the college game four seasons as an assistant at UL-Monroe, rising to associate head coach, followed by past years at USM, where she was heavily involved in the Golden Eagles’ recruiting in the state of Louisiana.
“I had some other college opportunities,” Barber said. “I battled putting the whistle down. There’s a fear when you get out, you may never get back in. I’m good with that if I found the right job that serves me, and allows me to still be around athletics and sports would still be more priority in life. I still feel like I could fulfill my purpose.”
Kovatch said Held, a 25-year coaching and teaching veteran, helped raise the profile of the LHSCA’s director position, which had previously been held by three people.
“He made the position bigger, better, and more encompassing than it ever had been before,” he said. “He really took the job to another level. It sets a standard, and the person that we were looking for had to come in and be able to check off all of the boxes.”
Barber commended Held’s accessibility during her transition phase to the job.
“He’s been on speed dial,” she said. “We have so much in common. He’s always available for you and very in touch with different coaches across the state and country. We’re very similar. He’s built his football brand, and I probably need to work more on that.”
Barber understands the state’s rich football culture and the role it plays on each campus throughout the state. She’s also committed to fostering an ‘every sport matters’ approach, attending as many events as possible, and conducting sports-specific clinics and camps on a regional basis.
“I feel connected to that (football) world having been at Karr and having been at Franklinton High School,” she said. “I got to live in Monroe for four years, and (homes) games at Neville and West Monroe were packed every week. Football has always been a huge deal in the success of any basketball program I’ve been around.
“I want to help our association extend our reach and offer some clinics and camps,” she said. “To give kids an opportunity to touch a ball, swing a golf club, who may not have access. We have an opportunity to reach more people, and the LHSCA can spearhead that. Community service has always been important to me, whether it’s as a player or coach. I want to continue that. The sky’s the limit.
Barber didn’t belabor the opportunity to return to her native state, to apply her past experiences and test the basic tenets that have shaped her career.
“There’s nothing more satisfying to me than being able to represent my state,” she said. “That’s the goal, provided I do a good job and continue to grow the association and lead us in a positive direction. I have no other plans. If the Lord’s willing, we’ll definitely end my career in the coach’s association.
“When I moved home after stepping down at Karr (former Franklinton football coach), coach Shane Smith told me if you’re a coach, you can coach any sport, and I started coaching tennis,” she said. “What he meant is if you’re a winner, you’ll find a way. During that time, I thought tennis was THE marquee sport. Every coach, no matter which sport they’re coaching, to them and their players, those are the marquee sports, and that’s how I’ll treat them.”
One of the biggest undertakings of the LHSCA’s director is the organization’s annual coaches’ convention.
From securing coaches to speak at the two-day event, July 22-23 at the Crowne Plaza in Baton Rouge, to getting vendors to organize the always-important golf tournament, it’s an all-encompassing endeavor.
It’s been a crash course for Barber, who was thankful that some of the layers of the event were already in place because of Held, along with the cooperation from members in the LHSAA’s office.
“It kind of intimidated me at first,” she said. “When you’re doing those things, coaches have already committed their time elsewhere. To my surprise, when I got here, I’ve learned everyone is so willing to help. We have someone in the office who takes care of the vendors, someone who takes care of the registration. The LHSAA offers support for those functions.
“All sports have associations and take the lead in nailing down speakers,” she said. “I have gotten some speakers and got the golf tournament going. Eric had a lot of it outlined, and he’s working a lot on the football speakers. It’s definitely not a one-woman show, and that helped alleviate some of that stress.”
Barber, a former volleyball official, discovered the tangible bonus of being a homegrown product working in the office of the state’s governing body for high school athletics.
“I haven’t had to call many people,” she said. “They’ve already reached out to me and are ready to help. It’s part of what still makes the association so special. There are so many people that don’t coach anymore but are very much a part of what we do.”
Kovatch is confident Barber will thrive in her new position.
“It’s not a job for people who don’t want to work, that’s how Eric left it,” he said. “We truly believe Jessica’s one of those people that is going to be able to do it and in her mind is ready to take it to another level.”
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