Mike Saunier works up quite the sweat on Friday nights.
Not only is Saunier focused on making sure to cheer on his son, starting quarterback Xan Saunier, during Lafayette High home football games at the Lion’s Den. The elder Saunier also serves as the Mighty Lion Touchdown Club president — the growing booster club for the Lafayette High football team.
It is not uncommon to see Saunier jog up and down the stadiums stairs for home games — making sure the press box has plenty of food of course, and then moments later find him on the field behind the end zone getting the giant Mighty Lion inflatable helmet set up for the team or run through.
The Delcambre High grad (Class of 1993) and pharmaceutical sales rep took time out recently to talk about he got involved with the Mighty Lion Touchdown Club and the challenges of that job.
Question: So how did you originally get involved with the Mighty Lion Touchdown Club and when did you became president?
Answer: Xan’s first year coming into the program was also Coach (Rob) Pool’s first year and the booster club was non existent at that time. That season they were wanting to start it back up so I became a member then. We were very fortunate to have a large senior class and parents that were very much involved and they did some great things. So when those guys left I was voted in as the new president for this year.
Q: What does the Mighty Lion Touchdown Club do on game days?
A: We try to help the coaching staff as much as possible. Everything from getting supplies for them or making sure the concession stand is stocked. We have very good parents of freshmen who are in charge of concessions and they do a really good job. The rest of our volunteers are in charge of making sure our inflatable helmet gets inflated and the smoke machine is ready for home games, or get the press box organized and ready for the game or organizing the pre-game meals and just making sure we handle all the odds and ends for our coaches on game day for sure.
Q: Are the group’s responsibilities only regulated to game days?
A: It is always a game day. My joke is that booster club season started in May and it should have finished the first game of the season but it is ongoing. We want these kids to have pride in a field and organization so they can play pridefully. That is why it is non-stop for us.
Q: With it being so non-stop, how do you juggle serving as the president while also cheering on your son?
A: It is a challenge from time to time. Trust me, as a daddy there are going to be some emotions from time to time. That said it is pretty easy. My wife and I have been blessed with three great kids. This is a long term investment for me. It truly is. I have a junior, a freshman and a fifth grader. They are all in gifted so they are all going to be coming to Lafayette High. I am here for the long term.
Q: You guys obviously have a great group of volunteers but how could it get better? And if so, how could you and the group accomplish that?
A: We would love for alumni to get more involved. We understand that some of our alums may have their own kids going to other schools. We get that. We just ask to please come back and support Lafayette High in anyway that you can. If you are a business owner and a alum it is super easy to purchase stadium ads or program ads or radio spots. You can support in different ways. We just ask to please reach out to Mighty Lion Touchdown on Facebook and we will be happy for you to join and start supporting the Mighty Lions.