There’s a lot of talk going on about the upcoming football season, and with scrimmages coming up as early as Thursday, it’s easy to see why.

But with the beginning of the school year, there’s more than just football that students in the parish can take part in.

August 6 marked the first official day of practice not only for football, but for boys and girls swimming and cross country, as well as girls volleyball.

Every local school except Gueydan takes part in more than one fall sports, according to the LHSAA.

And, while only one of the schools participate in swimming, some of the other fall sports are represented fairly well in the parish.

Six parish schools participate in boys and girls cross country.

Several of those teams performed well in their district meets last year.

Vermilion Catholic had some standout performances they wish to see repeats of this year.

VC junior Katie Meaux placed first in the girls’ competition with a time of 22:26 for the three-mile course. Freshman Ashailee Brailey landed fifth with a 26:55 time.

VC junior John McClain led the Eagles’ boys to a second place finish with a time of 20:23, getting him an individual third place, while sophomore Trey Williams ran the course in 22:01, getting another third place.

Williams and McClain helped their squad to a second place finish.

In the District 9-3A meet, the Abbeville Wildcats took first in the boys’ competition, led by Javon Coleman’s 17:08 time on the three-mile course. Killian Windmon helped Abbeville win sixth place with a time of 18:18.

Erath’s Lady Bobcats took first in the girls’ race, aided by Sydney Richardelle’s 21:53, fourth-place time, Samantha Cawyer’s 22:38 seventh place time and Kalyn Stephen’s 23:05 ninth place time.

Kaplan’s Mallory Hebert took first in the girls’ race with a time of 21:17 on the three mile course. Ashton Hargrave ran a 21:40 to finish in fourth to get the Lady Pirates second place.

The earliest opportunity for meets this season for participating schools is on August 27, with the regular season ending just over two months later on November 10 and the championship meet will take place November 12 through November 13.

The state meet for Cross Country will be held in Natchitoches this year at Northwestern State University’s campus.

North Vermilion and Delcambre also participate in volleyball, and last year was a banner year for the Lady Pats, who made it into the state playoffs and landed four players on the All District team.

Volleyball teams get a chance to scrimmage beginning on August 20. The first match of the season for participating schools is on August 27, with the regular season ending on October 27.

The state championship will be from November 8 through November 10.

And North Vermilion is the only local team with a swimming program. In 2010, they even produced a state champion.

The season for swimming also begins on August 27, when teams can attend their first meets.

Unlike the other fall sports, however, the season for swimming is the entire school year. The state championship swim meet will be held November 14 through November 16.

While the Friday night lights are about to start shining bright, these other local teams will also be performing to bring home a championship for their school.