Your group will find quality sports facilities and fun attractions in Louisiana. An abundance of choices for the traveler and sports enthusiast await.
Play Indoors or Outside in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge’s Louisiana Art & Science Museum has fine art, interactive exhibits and a mummy from 300 B.C. The Irene W. Pennington Planetarium & Exxon Mobil Space Theater is known for its “sky shows” and films played in large format on the 60-foot domed screen. See scale dioramas of the Solar System, Milky Way and the Universe. At USS Kidd Veterans Memorial and Museum see the World War II destroyer and climb the observation tower. In warm weather have fun at Blue Bayou Water Park and ride roller coasters at adjacent Dixie Landin’ Theme Park. Learn about Louisiana’s diverse heritage with exhibits on Creoles, African-Americans and the Civil War at Louisiana State Museum. Louisiana’s State Capitol is the tallest capitol in the country and offers a panoramic view from its observation deck.
With seven ball fields for baseball or softball, Cypress Mounds Baseball Complex is a fit for larger groups in Baton Rouge. For indoor sports, try the newly built Premier Soccer Center. Anne T. Jordan Community Park has tennis courts, three ball diamonds and a swimming pool. If you have an extreme team, Perkins Road Community Park has a skate park with a BMX track. Perkins also has open turf areas and a rock climbing tower.
Prime Attractions and Sports in New Orleans
New Orleans is still a viable place to visit and one of its prime attractions is the National World War II Museum. Exhibits put the war in chronological order with the help of oral histories and plans of warfare tactics. At the Victory Theater on the museum’s campus the film Beyond All Boundaries is narrated by Tom Hanks. New Orleans Museum of Art features 46 galleries of world art, including works by Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso. In the historic French Quarter, Preservation Hall is a famous venue with traditional jazz played live in a large parlor room. Audubon Zoo has 1,500 animals including rare and endangered species. The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas holds a collection of 15,000 specimens of marine life and also has an IMAX theater.
New Orleans Arena is a professional venue with seating for 18,500 for indoor sports. Alario Center is a new facility with four hardwood basketball courts and seating for 2,400. Segnette Field’s full-size baseball field has seating for 650. The City Parks of New Orleans has nine athletic fields, three with lights, for soccer, rugby, lacrosse and flag football. City Park Tennis Complex has 11 hard courts and 10 clay courts for tournaments and other competitions. With 10 soccer fields Audubon Park can hold large tournaments.
Enjoy History and Sports in Lafayette
The University Art Museum in Lafayette exhibits works from Europe and Asia with collections starting in the 1700s to the present. Vermilionville recreates an early Louisiana settlement village with buildings from that time and recreations of period buildings. Tour 10 acres of gardens and woodlands at Acadian Village or explore buildings such as an old general store, barn and chapel. Take a boat trip through the swamp on a tour designed for photographers, nature lovers and bird watchers.
Offering 21 fields, four lighted, Moore Park is a place for soccer tournaments and exhibitions. The Youth Tournament Park of Acadiana can provide room for six games at once on their lighted fields. Blackham Coliseum is a match for indoor sports that need high capacity seating. Cajundome, home of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ basketball team, can be converted for different indoor sports and has seating for 17,000.
Lake Charles has Many Facilities
Lake Charles’ arena football team, the Swashbucklers, is exciting to watch at Lake Charles Civic Center. View an old-time train at the Dequincy Railroad Museum & City Park at the original location of the town when it was established in 1895. The historical Imperial Calcasieu Museum contains an art gallery, historical memorabilia and a library with Audubon prints. Don’t forget to see the 300-year-old oak tree on the grounds. Airboat rides on the Creole Nature Trail provide an exciting introduction to swamp life.
Lake Charles Racquet Club, a prime venue for your tennis team, has 11 lighted courts, seating for 150 people, a club house, bar and grill, and pro shop. McNeese State University can host gymnastic competitions and just installed a new sound system. LaGrange Soccer Park has seating for 150 at each of its three lighted fields. Swimming competitions are welcome at Sulphur Recreation & Aquatic Center, which has three pools, each with eight lanes and 50-meters in length, with seating for 3,000. Basketball, volleyball, cheerleading competitions, dance competitions and gymnastics can be held on the facility’s two courts. In this part of the center there is seating for 1,000. Ward 3 Multi-Sports Complex is a complete facility with five lighted baseball fields and 12 soccer fields. Jim Sudduth Coliseum’s basketball arena has one basketball court and seating for 7,450. The court can be converted for indoor football, cheerleading and volleyball.
Louisiana is a historic state with intriguing attractions and modern sports facilities. Bring your team here to play and have fun on and off the field.
