MIAMI (WSVN) - The first female coach for a Florida high school football team led her team to win during her team’s first pre-season game, Thursday night.
Lakatriona Brunson coached Miami Jackson Senior High School’s Generals football team to a 36-0 win over the Coral Reef Barracudas, and she said it’s only the start of better things.
“It’s just the beginning,” Brunson said afterwards. “That’s it. We got room to grow, and we gonna grow, and we gonna get better.”
Before, Brunson said, she felt no pressure. “It’s pressure everyday, pressure just living. This is nothing,” she said.
Known as Coach B to her players, Brunson had said she was ready to prove that she is just as capable as a coach as her male counterparts. “You got people who really, really, really don’t think that these kids can have a leader like myself,” she said.
The former flag-football coach has now made history. However, Brunson said, her focus is on making sure her players succeed. “I want to be there standing next to them and say, ‘I helped one of these young men get off the streets and go somewhere and do something with their life,” she said. “So for all the naysayers: it’s not me, it’s the kids. They working for me.”
One parent said he might have been one of those naysayers in the past.
“I might have been one of those years ago, but you know, the right person at the right time,” William Washington said. “She’s a positive motivator and stickler to detail, which you need in a head coach.”
Viewers of “South Beach Tow” may recognize Brunson as the tough Bernice. However, she is now making sure her players are game ready. “When I’m on the field, I still see a coach, it’s nothing different,” said sophomore Terrell Thomas. “She handles business, and she means business.”
“I got these kids ready and once they get on the field, they probably can coach themselves,” Brunson said. “Everybody counting us out, go and give them a reason to hate. That’s it.”
Jackson plays Columbus High School next week.
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