Gerry Robichaux

Sport: Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism

Induction Year: 2000

University: LSU

Gerry Robichaux played a role in reviving interest in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. As president of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association in 1969, he encouraged two other Distinguished Service Award winners, Jerry Pierce and Jim McLain, to undertake the task of finding a permanent home for the artwork and memorabilia of those members already in the Hall of Fame. That was where the wonderful Hall we know it today got its start.

Also during his LSWA presidency, Robichaux championed a code of ethics for LSWA members. He instituted the Ace Higgins Scholarship, presented to the state’s top student assistant Sports Information Department staffer and named for the widely respected LSU SID. And he established the LSWA’s writing and editing competition to encourage excellence of sports coverage in Louisiana’s high school and college newspapers.

A Baton Rouge native, Robichaux graduated from LSU with a journalism degree in 1959, less than a year after serving as sports editor of The Daily Reveille, the school newspaper, during the storied 1958 national championship football season. A year out of college, he was hired by the legendary Jack Fiser as a sportswriter for The Times of Shreveport. He spent 27 years with The Times, the last nine as sports editor.

He covered prep, college, professional and amateur sports and was highly regarded for his emphasis on local sports coverage as sports editor of The Times.

On leaving The Times, he served as marketing director of the Metropolitan YMCA of Shreveport-Bossier and was instrumental in launching the Northwest Louisiana District Senior Olympics, helping to conduct the Northwest area games for 19 seasons and handling its publicity. That included producing Seniorific Magazine, the organization yearbooks, He also served a term as vice president of the statewide LSOG. He was a vice president of the Serra Club of Shreveport and produced The Serranotes, judged the top newsletter in International Serra Club competition in 2005. In 2007, Gerry developed a website presentation of biographies for the 30 top Bossier City athletes and sports figures for the Bossier City Centennial.