“I’ve played football for as long as I remember.” Allen Stewart
Senior Allen Stewart was first introduced to the game of football at the local YMCA where he competed on a flag football team. By age seven, he began playing tackle football in the LYF leagues. Before he wore the Episcopal blue and gold, a young Allen was a member of the Baton Rouge Falcons and the South Baton Rouge Rams. Now, football will remain a part of Allen’s story as he recently signed with Rhodes College.

“It just felt at home.”
Allen says when he visited Rhodes, he knew it was the place for him. “Rhodes was the right school for me because it just felt at ‘home.’ I loved the campus and the city of Memphis altogether,” he says. “When looking for a school, I wanted an upstanding academic environment where I would have the opportunity to play football, and Rhodes gave me just that opportunity to do so.” Allen has his sights set on a political science major, and he’s not ruling out the possibility of a double major to also include business.

What does it mean for someone who has played football since elementary school to have an opportunity to play in college? “It’s truly a blessing that God has given me,” says Allen. “I truly appreciate the opportunity to continue doing something I love, while getting a commendable education. I just am elated and thankful for the opportunity.”

​“Great Representative of an Episcopal Student-Athlete”
As a four-year member of the Knights football team, Allen became the Team Captain and was a selection for the 2nd Team All-District team his senior year. However, football player is only part of Allen’s identity. “Allen has been a great representative of an Episcopal student-athlete,” says Head Coach Travis Bourgeois. “He competes in three sports and holds leadership roles in his senior class while maintaining a solid GPA. He has been a positive role model for our younger players to follow.” Allen is the Episcopal Student Body President, and he was crowned the 2020 Homecoming King. He is a Thesis student who is exploring the public perception of athlete activists, particularly Black athletes. He also finds time to help others as a math tutor, and he is involved with Episcopal’s diversity, equity and inclusion conversations and efforts. It’s an impressive resume for someone who is only just beginning to pursue his dreams.

It’s no accident that Allen will play football at the next level as he has given his all to everything he has done. He has this advice for classmates. “I would say for the students who hope to play at the next level: Work Hard, Do Your Best, and Compete as hard as you can. Although these sound like cliches, they hold a lot of truth and help anyone succeed not only in athletics but in everyday life. If you stick by these three advice pieces, there will be many schools wanting to embrace any athlete who does these things.”
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We are certain that Rhodes will embrace Allen next fall. We are also certain that Allen will leave his mark on the school in just the same way he has done at Episcopal. Congratulations, Allen! Please join us in congratulating Allen in the comments section below.

Read more about other graduating Episcopal athletes moving on to compete at the next level by clicking the names below:
Callie Hardy
Logan LeBlanc 
​Dylan Mehrotra
Austin Sybrandt

It’s not every day that a Louisiana athlete signs on to play lacrosse at the next level, but that is just what happened this week when Episcopal senior Logan LeBlanc made it official with Southwestern University. Southwestern is located in Georgetown, Texas, near Austin. Logan says there were multiple reasons for inking with the Pirates. “The first is it is a top class academic institution that will challenge me but also gives me so many opportunities to follow my major in the medical field,” he says. “Secondly, I loved the location of being right outside of Austin and the actual city of Georgetown being so pretty. Lastly, Coach Bowman was the first coach to ever recruit me. He was the first person to believe that I was a college player and that stuck with me.”

Opportunities to play lacrosse in Louisiana are not as common as other sports, but that didn’t impede Logan. He has been playing the sport for eight years after first competing for the local club youth team in Baton Rouge. “Once I hit high school, I started playing for the Dutchtown club lacrosse team but the past two years I switched over to the Chaos Lacrosse Club which is based in Mandeville,” he says. “Also, I played for FTK which is a select lacrosse team with the best players for Louisiana.” Logan credits FTK coach Shane Koppens with helping him garner the attention of college teams. “He put my name out there and put me in positions to make a name for myself,” says Logan. As a part of the national team, Logan also had the opportunity to play in the northern part of the country, which he says, “started putting Louisiana out there.”

​Read more about other graduating Episcopal athletes moving on to compete at the next level by clicking the names below:
Callie Hardy
​Dylan Mehrotra
Austin Sybrandt

Cross country champ Callie Hardy officially signed with the Tigers this week. As the pen moved across the page, it was the culmination of years of hard work and a commitment to a dream. “I came to Episcopal because I knew I wanted to run at the next level, and it is so cool to see it all finally come together,” says Callie. “I was blessed with the best coaches and teammates and I could not have done this without them. Being a part of the LSU track and cross country team has been a dream of mine for years.”

Callie first laced up her sneakers as a track athlete in seventh grade. A year later, she added cross country. Callie joined the Knights her junior year and has made tremendous contributions to the program since. During her senior year she was part of a team that broke cross country course records. She also earned the 2020 Individual LHSAA Cross Country State Champion title and was named a 2020 All Metro Cross Country First Team member. 

Read more about other graduating Episcopal athletes moving on to compete at the next level by clicking the names below:
Logan LeBlanc
​Dylan Mehrotra
Austin Sybrandt