Hopes are high for Teche Area high school football teams as the 2009 season approaches, with jamborees set to kick off the week of Aug. 28 and the regular season starting the first week of September.

For coaches of the five public high schools in Iberia Parish, that means it’s time to break out the joke books, sharpen their wits and prepare for the annual Iberia Parish Sugar Cane Jamboree Luncheon, where they will spin tall tales and try to earn the Not-So-Sweet Award for humorously presenting their teams’ prospects for the upcoming season.

The jamboree luncheon, sponsored by The Daily Iberian and Community First Bank, will be Tuesday, Aug. 25 at the Holiday Inn in New Iberia. Seating begins at 11:30 a.m. with the program starting at noon. Tickets are $16 apiece and are available at The Daily Iberian and Community First Bank, or by calling 365-6773, extension 3013 to charge by phone. Deadline to purchase tickets is Friday, Aug. 21.

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Any profits generated from the luncheon will be donated to United Way.

The luncheon, which was started around the same time that Community First Bank was formed, has been a great experience for the bank, said Community First president and CEO Benny Menard. Sponsoring the luncheon was one of the first community ventures with which the bank became involved.

“I look forward to it every year, and I know the people who go look forward to it,” said Menard. “It gives them a chance to see these coaches are human beings, but more important it lets them see how much (the coaches) love these kids. They could be doing a lot of other things, but they love the sport and players so much (they choose to coach).”

Defending Not-So-Sweet Award winner Darcy Delcambre of Delcambre High School returns this year, along with coaches Trent Delahoussaye of Loreauville High, Brian Fine of Westgate High, Rick Hutson of New Iberia Senior High and Terry Washington of Jeanerette Senior High.

The idea for the award is based on the tradition of many coaches including Joe Paterno of Penn State University and Paul “Bear” Bryant of Alabama of downplaying their teams’ abilities and simultaneously inflating their opponents’ talents to the media. The Lafayette Kiwanis Jamboree began awarding a “Crying Towel” to the coach with the saddest story about his team at its annual jamboree media luncheon many years ago, and the Iberia Parish luncheon followed suit with the sugar cane-related Not-So-Sweet Award.

Delcambre won the award last year �” his second such honor �” by claiming his team is the favorite opponent for the host teams at the jamboree. The host school rotates among the schools each year, with the host responsible for making the schedule and choosing which schools play each other.

Each coach is given up to 10 minutes to speak at the luncheon, and representatives of the luncheon and jamboree sponsors vote for the coach they feel had the lowest (tongue-in-cheek) expectations for the upcoming season.

“It’s such a great community event,” said Daily Iberian publisher Will Chapman. “The luncheon’s always fun. Everybody’s undefeated, optimism is high.”

Other winners of the Not-So-Sweet Award include Mike Delcambre of Delcambre High in 2000, Hutson from 2001-03 and in 2007, Craig Brodie of Westgate High in 2004 and Kirk Crochet of Loreauville in 2005.

Catholic High withdrew from the jamboree this year and will play in the Kiwanis Jamboree in Lafayette.

That leaves five teams for the Iberia Parish jamboree, so the three smaller schools (Class A Delcambre and Class 2A Jeanerette and Loreauville) will play a round-robin of three 15-minute games, followed by the two Class 5A schools in the parish, NISH and Westgate.

The varsity jamboree will be Friday, Aug. 28 at Lloyd G. Porter Memorial Stadium. Delcambre plays Jeanerette at 5:30 p.m., followed by Delcambre-Loreauville at 6:15 and Jeanerete-Loreauville at 7:45 p.m. Westgate and New Iberia play two 12-minute halves at 7:45 p.m.

Tickets are $5 apiece if purchased in advance at one of the participating schools, or $7 at the gate. Proceeds from ticket sales at the schools remain with the school that sold the tickets. Proceeds from tickets at the gate are split among participating schools.

The jamboree begins with junior varsity games on Aug. 27 at Loreauville High School. Delcambre faces Westgate at 5:30 p.m., Jeanerette plays Loreauville at 6:30 p.m. and Westgate faces New Iberia at 7:30 p.m. Junior varsity tickets are $4 apiece and available only a the gate.

The jamboree is sponsored by The Daily Iberian and Coca-Cola.

Loreauville High School is the host school.