The 84th International Rice Festival has chosen Sullivan Reese Rue as the Children’s Parade Grand Marshal.
The parade is set to take place in Downtown Crowley on Friday, October 15, 2021.
Born and raised in Crowley, she is the oldest daughter of Terry and Keisha Rue as well as older sister to Arden Grace Rue. Sullivan is a 2021 Honor Graduate of Notre Dame High School where she was active in Beta as well as a member of the Pio Pride Dance Team. Sullivan will attend the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and major in Nursing with future hopes of receiving a Doctorate in Anesthesia following in the footsteps of her Father and Godmother.
Growing up in the heart of Acadia Parish, Sullivan is no stranger to what she considers the greatest festival on the planet, the International Rice Festival. She credits the rice industry for fueling her way by providing her with two of her favorite foods, rice and gravy and rice cakes.
Sullivan developed a love for the Arts at a very young age and was able to fuel this passion through dance. She joined Core Dance Center at the age of three and over the course of many years, excelled beyond her wildest dreams while developing an even greater love and appreciation for dance styles such as tap and contemporary. She was chosen to be a member of the award-winning competitive team known as The Company and also received the coveted Kaitlyn Hetzel award from her mentors at Core Dance Center. After fifteen years of love, laughter and camaraderie, Sullivan hopes to remain an integral part of Core Dance Center as an assistant instructor.
During their teenage years, Sullivan’s parents began playing the sport of Foosball. They introduced their first born to a Foosball table before the age of one. Sullivan began playing Foosball at tournaments around the country, even traveling as far as Hawaii by the age of seven where she began her competitive career in the sport that she loves. Over the course of eighteen years, she has worked tirelessly at and remained devoted to foosball which has earned her multiple world, state and national titles, most of which were record breaking. At the age of 12, she won her first world title and was asked to lead Team USA Juniors’ Foosball at the World Cup in Germany. After her time in Germany, Sullivan began to practice on multiple style foosball tables in order to one day be asked to play for the USA‘s Women’s Team at the World Cup.
A highlight of her career was winning the Tornado Women’s Open Doubles World Championship at age 14, making her the youngest person to win this open title. Her success gave her the opportunity to compete with the USA’s Women’s Team at the World Cup held in Murcia, Spain. Sullivan had an impressive performance receiving two bronze medals and one gold, making her the youngest USA female to win the gold medal as a member of the Women’s Team at World Cup. She was honored to bring home the gold, but more so, she was blessed and privileged to have played alongside her mother and father for Team USA. After Spain, Sullivan has continued to make great strides in the world of Foosball. She’s had a few more “firsts in foos”, taking home two state titles with her mom, and being the first female to win men’s expert singles at an IFP tournament. Sullivan has qualified for the next World Cup and will travel to Nantes, France in 2022 to compete in this event.
In addition to her foosball travels, Sullivan, alongside her family, was featured in an Award Winning Documentary called “Foosballers”. The Documentary aired in theaters across the United States and Canada and on major streaming platforms along with ESPN.
