It was a Christmas Eve surprise presented in front of a couple hundred friends, and it shocked Tioga’s Kathy Holloway.
Her son, Rev. Stewart Holloway, briefly yielded the pulpit about 20 minutes into the Christmas Eve service at the First Baptist Church of Pineville, and her friend John Marcase, a deacon in the church, made an announcement that immediately sparked an extended round of applause in the chapel.
Thursday, those who weren’t aware found out with an official media release.
Tioga’s trailblazing now retired high school sports administrator and successful basketball coach, who became a national icon in prep sports, is the 2026 winner of the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award presented by the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
The first female president of the Louisiana High School Coaches Association and of the National High School Athletic Coaches Association, Holloway has retired but continues to serve her community, the LHSAA and national high school athletics in several capacities.
Saturday, June 27 at the Hall of Fame’s 2026 Induction Ceremony in Natchitoches, she will become the 25th recipient of the Dixon Award since its inception in 2005, and will be enshrined in the Hall as the fourth female Dixon winner.
Marcase, the president of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, suggested to Hall of Fame chairman Doug Ireland that instead of waiting for the official announcement in January, sharing the news with her friends and family at her church would be a fabulous Christmas surprise for mother and her son. Rev. Holloway was, however, in on the secret, which produced prolonged applause from the congregation and a teary-eyed reaction from the woman in the spotlight.
“When John called me up to the pulpit, I thought it had something to do with the Upward Bound basketball program,” she said. “It was quite a surprise.”
She joins Pineville native Sue Donohoe (2017), an NCAA basketball administrator; Alexandria native Marie Gagnard (2019), a renowned pro tennis official; and Opelousas native Joan Cronan (2020), the venerable women’s athletic director during the Pat Summitt era at Tennessee, in the subset of women who have been honored.
The Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award has been presented annually by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s 35-member Hall of Fame selection committee to an individual who has played a decisive role as a sports leader or administrator benefiting Louisiana and/or bringing credit to Louisiana on the national and international level.
It is named in honor of the 1999 LSHOF inductee, an entrepreneur and innovator who is credited as the key figure in bringing an NFL franchise to New Orleans, and the development of the Caesars Superdome, highlighting an array of sports-related endeavors.
Holloway’s selection was formally announced Thursday morning by Marcase and Ireland, who said Holloway emerged from a ballot showcasing 27 noteworthy nominees for the Dixon Award.
She will be among a Cenla-heavy 12-member 2026 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Class headlined by eight “competitive ballot” inductees announced in September.
The Class of ‘26 is headlined by that star-studded group: Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 2025 inductee Sylvia Fowles, NFL stars Joe Horn, Todd McClure and Pat Williams, Major League Baseball All-Star Jonathan Lucroy and legendary basketball coaches John Brady, Mike McConathy of Natchitoches and Dewain Strother, a Rapides Parish native and longtime Florien High girls basketball coach.
Alexandria native and LSU baseball hero Warren Morris will receive the Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award, earning enshrinement into the LSHOF.
Multi-faceted Shreveporter John James Marshall and LSU graduate and New Orleans native Gil LeBreton are going into the Hall, announced Wednesdsay as the 2026 winners of the LSWA’s Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism.
The 2026 Induction Class will be celebrated June 25-27 in Natchitoches. Opportunities to purchase admission for the four ticketed events are available at the LaSportsHall.com website through the www.LaSportsHall.com/induction26 link.
A 2012 National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee, Holloway was elected to the Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
In 2021, the NHSACA created the “Kathy Holloway Women of Inspiration Award” to be presented annually to a female “that has promoted female athletics by either coaching, serving, supporting or leading high school female athletic programs that focus on changing lives and inspiring women to strive for greatness.” The first recipient of the award was Holloway.
A standout basketball player at Poland High in Rapides Parish, Kathy Stewart Holloway had a highly successful coaching career at Tioga High. She led THS to 10 playoff appearances and two trips to the Sweet 16, a pair of state runner-up finishes.
She coached four high school All-Americans: Jan Nugent (1969-72), Kay Ford (1972-75), Julie Wilkerson (1976-79) and Tara Curtis (1984-88). Ford and Wilkerson played at Louisiana Tech and Curtis played at LSU.
Holloway still serves on the LHSAA Hall of Fame selection committee and is the longtime director of the Upward Basketball program at her church, along other continuing roles of service.