By T. Scott Boatright
He was the founder of the Choudrant High School tennis team.
Today, 14 years after his death following a battle with cancer Thomas’ name is securely linked to that tennis program he loved so much.
Choudrant High School held its third annual Eddie Thomas Memorial Tennis Tournament over the weekend, celebrating the life of the man who began the tennis program at CHS and coached his son Jurdon and Ramsey Ballard to a Louisiana High School Athletic Association boys double title in 2005.
Current Choudrant tennis coach Laura Jackson said that dedicating the CHS courts actually started last year but that this was the first Eddie Thomas Memorial Tournament including signage of the name of the courts honoring him.
“It was a great weekend and a great tournament,” Jackson said. “I know this is only the third year, but we had the biggest turnout we’ve ever had. It was a really great time for everybody who came out and we really enjoyed the day and the weather. The tournament was a big success and a lot of fun, too.”
Jackson was no stranger to Thomas even before teaching alongside before his death.
“I took over as coach a couple of years after he passed away, but I went to high school at Choudrant and was there as a PE teacher and tennis coach while I was in high school,” Jackson said. “I actually used to babysit his two oldest boys.
“And my best friend, Anna Chandler, played tennis under him when we were in high school.”
Chandler has fond memories of playing under Thomas.
“Outside of my family, he is literally the biggest influence in my life and helped make me who I am today,” Chandler said. “As a junior high kid, I was a brat really, a pretty dang good tennis player, but a brat.
“He took me in and he supported me in every way to hone my tennis skills. But more than that, he showed me what life was really all about. He modeled what it meant to be a father, a husband and a coach. He prayed for me and with me.”
Chandler also remembers another side of Thomas.
“When I think of Coach Thomas, I think of how much fun he was,” Chandler said. “You never were really around him when he didn’t make it more fun. He truly lived with that joy Christ gives, and it exuded to others.”
Chandler said their relationship still lives on in her memories today.
“I didn’t know how unique it was until I had my own kids and interacted with coaches and teachers,” Chandler said. “Outside of my family, he was one of the most influential people in my life. He taught me tennis and I won a lot of matches, but that is not at all what I really remember. I remember very little about the tennis matches. I remember his character. I remember him showing me a list in his Bible of people he prayed for every day, and I remember being on that list. I sure needed it.
“And I remember how fun he was. We had so many laughs. He was the standard of what coaches would strive to be. Very few people will make it in a sport past high school and ever fewer past college. He taught us eternal lessons. Nobody cares that I was a pretty good tennis player except for a few of my current Pickleball partners. But hopefully, I am a better parent, spouse and person because of him. That’s why it’s such an honor to sponsor this tournament every year.
Before he started the CHS tennis program around 1989-90, Thomas was a teacher and basketball coach. And he learned a lot about basketball serving as a team manager for Louisiana Tech’s Lady Techsters under coach Leon Barmore, who became a lifelong friend of Thomas.
“What a wonderful man,” Barmore said. “He was a manager for us of course. And then I visited with him a lot down at Choudrant when he was going through that tough battle with cancer. There’s nobody I thought more of than Eddie Thomas.
“I visited him in the hospital right before he passed. So yes, I was close with Eddie and he just died too young. Eddie was a prince of a young man. I just can’t say enough good things about Eddie Thomas.”
The winning teams at last weekend’s Eddie Thomas Memorial Tennis Tournament were Ethan Davis and Ben Foret in men’s doubles with Issac and Blake Thomas taking second; Ginger Gustavson and Amy Turner in women’s doubles; and Foret and Addisyn Dartez in mixed doubles.
