Thomas Hymel

Head Coach

The Riverside Softball program has always been a program of excellence. The Lady Rebels are always a contender for not only district championships, but state championships as well. The program has an annual goal of making it to the state tournament in Sulphur, La. The program has sent numerous players to the next level.

Thomas Hymel is a 1990 Riverside Academy graduate. After graduation, Hymel started coaching at Riverside Academy in 1991. He began by running the elementary football program until 2001, when he took over the Biddy Basketball program, where he spent nine years growing the program to over 300 players and 35 teams. In 2003, Hymel began coaching youth softball in the River Parishes. In 2008, Hymel began coaching softball for Riverside Academy at the elementary level, running the 5^th and 6^th grade programs under Kristy Hebert. The same year, Coach Thomas started the Southern Sluggers travel softball organization, and continued overseeing the program for eight years until 2016, leaving the program with 5 teams and over 90 players.

In 2014, Coach Thomas spent time in New York learning the art of coaching and skill of pitching under Phil Schonberg, one of the premium pitching coaches on the east coast, and the owner of Fast Pitch Power.

In 2018, Hymel joined the Riverside Academy Lady Rebel Varsity Softball staff under Head Coach, Tamra Regalo. The following year, Hymel was invited to help coach at the LSU Elite Summer Softball Camp and the D1 Vision Elite Softball Camp hosted at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Coach Thomas left Riverside for two years, from 2021-2022, to coach at Baton Rouge Community College. He returned to Riverside Academy in 2023 to help Riverside Academy win its first state title in Softball for over 20 years.

Thomas, and his wife Kelli Hymel, are the parents of two daughters, Maegan Hymel Roussel and Carli Hymel.