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Spotlight of Former Athlete: Anne deMahy Herrmann – Women’s Basketball 1977-80Herrmann left mark as shooter, rebounder
Anne de Mahy (Herrmann)
Cajun Career Highlights @
Rebounding
1977-78 – 230, 10.0
1979-80 – 220, 8.8
FG Percentage
1978-79 – 93-204, 46.1
FT Percentage
1977-78 – 106-149, 71.1
1978-79 – 82-123, 66.7
1979-80 – 76-124, 61.3
@ Led team in each
By Bruce Brown
Athletic Network
Anne Herrmann always had a knack for leadership.
The 10th of 12 children, the young Anne de Mahy emerged as the go-to centerpiece of the girls’ basketball squad at tiny Mercy Academy in St. Martinville.
She rode that to a scholarship to play for USL’s Cajun women in the 1970’s, and promptly led the team in 9 different statistical categories in her three seasons of play.
And today, Herrmann can be found inspiring both students and faculty alike to realize their full potential in her role as the principal at Plantation Elementary School.
On a shelf behind her desk sits a plaque with a quote from Michaelangelo – “I’m still learning” – that speaks to her own thirst for the new and better.
“I enjoy making a difference in children’s lives,” Herrmann said. “Here at Plantation, we look to build leaders, to teach them to be the best they can be. That goes for the adults here, too.
“We teach them to set goals for themselves, and that change starts with them. I want them all to reach their full potential. Every one of us is on a journey to learn.”
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is the featured theme of a bulletin board in the front hall, and that appears to be the blueprint.
It is a challenging time to be an educator.
“There is more emphasis on accountability in the classroom,” said Herrmann, who entered administration in 2003. “It’s data-driven instruction. They say we’re teaching the test, but we’re teaching the standard.”
She smiled while talking of classroom challenges, saying “I have so much respect for teachers now, to do all they do.”
Growing up in the de Mahy clan had its own challenges. The oldest and youngest of 12 siblings were 20 years apart. The matriarch kept 14 plates heaped with food, and the children made sure they ate.
With the wide age range, only once does Herrmann recall all 12 being home for the summer months.
There were almost enough de Mahy kids to equal Mercy’s 18-girl graduating class her senior year, enough to stage family basketball scrimmages if they so desired.
“Basketball was the only sport we had at Mercy,” Herrmann said. “I had an older sister who had played, and I wanted to be better than her.
“I learned to shoot – learned the correct form – at basketball camps in Mississippi and Grand Coteau in the summer. I also played Junior Olympic basketball all across southwest Louisiana, and my sophomore year we won the national championship in New Orleans.”
At 5-foot-9, de Mahy quickly became a scoring and rebounding force.
“I was able to rebound, and make points,” she said. “And I could shoot. I had the proper form. I remember my dad talking about making my free throws – ‘They’re FREE! So don’t miss them. Take advantage of it.’
“I was good for the team, a leader who helped keep us together.”
At then-USL, de Mahy twice led the Cajuns in rebounding (10.0, 1977-78; 8.8, 1979-80), three times in free throw shooting percentage (71.1, 1977-78; 66.7, 1978-79; 61.3, 1979-80), once in field goal shooting (46.1, 1978-79) and three times in fouls.
Despite that, the Cajuns couldn’t manage a winning record under either Jill Kelly or Mary Jo Castell. Baby steps for the program.
“Mary Jo was our first coach just for basketball,” said Herrmann, whose parents were pleased she signed close to home. “Jill was the volleyball coach. We didn’t have a bus for road games. We rode in cars.
“We did feel overmatched at times. I was 5-9, playing against a 6-5 center. I think, with coaching, I could have played forward. Today there are so many opportunities for players. At the time, women’s pro leagues were just getting started.
“In high school, there weren’t as many playing at the level I was playing,” she added. “You get to college, and you adapt. A lot of high school athletes adapt once they get to college.”
Herrmann played just three years at USL. She married Rick Herrmann, had a daughter and began the next phase of her life, or else would have had more entries in the school’s record book.
“I missed my senior year,” said a somewhat wistful Herrmann, who majored in elementary education, looked at both special education and also at adaptive physical education.
Then when her son was born deaf, she directed her efforts to become a teacher of the deaf. He died in 1999 of heart issues, but she had three natural children and two stepchildren, as well as a granddaughter.
“I really don’t know how I juggled it all – to be a single parent (divorced in 1993), plus teach and go to school,” she said. “But athletics helped me there. That ability to juggle class and practice, you learn that.”
Re-awakening memories helped Herrmann realize she had lost touch with teammates.
“Julie Bonin and I played together in high school and college,” Hermann said. “Michele Bourgeois and I were close, played Junior Olympics and at UL. And Margy Bayard, I haven’t seen her since college.”
There’s still time to re-visit the past, if Herrmann can ever tear herself away from her students’ futures. * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * Click here for the chronological listings of the Spotlight on Former Athletes. * * * * * *
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