Coolidge (Washington, D.C.) looks like it will become the first high school varsity football team in the country with a female head coach.
According to reports in the
Washington Post, Natalie Randolph is expected to replace Jason Lane as head coach for the 2010 season.
Natalie Randolph will replace Jason Lane (pictured) as head
coach of Coolidge (Washington, D.C.).
Photo by Michael Starghill Jr.
Randolph is a former wide receivers coach at H.D, Woodson (Washington, D.C.) and would inherit a team that finished 6-4 last season.
When reached Wednesday afternoon, Coolridge athletic director Toby Strong said he could not confirm the hiring but said: "They're going to have a press conference Friday. As of now, I have no comment."
On Tuesday, the Post reportedly reached the 29-year-old Randolph, who confirmed she had accepted the job but declined to comment further.
Our attempts to reach Randolph were unsuccessful, but according to her attorney Lawrence Wilson, Esq., the press conference is expected to take place at 11:30 a.m. at Coolidge.
Randolph reportedly met with the team on Tuesday. After some initial skepticism, she impressed the players with her knowledge of the game as well as her experience playing for the D.C. Divas, a professional women's team in Washington D.C.
Women head coaches in boys sports are rare at the high school level in any sport. Among the more than 16,000 schools that have downloaded varsity football rosters and coaching information onto MaxPreps.com, no females head coaches could be traced.
There have been several cases of women coaching boys varsity basketball teams, perhaps the most visible is Ruth Lovelace, head boys basketball coach at
Boys & Girls (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
While it's common for men to coach girls basketball, it's exceedingly rare the other way around, particularly in New York City's gritty Public School Athletic League.
Meghan Morgan, director of development at Girls in the Game, a non-profit organization based in Chicago, expects Randolph to another pioneer in her field.
"The news of Natalie Randolph's success highlights that women are, and continue to be, essential to the development of athletics for both male and female youth," she said. "We know that Natalie will continue to be a positive role model for girls and boys and we hope the decision of Coolidge will pave the way for more women to succeed in such a male-dominated field."
While she may face challenges off the field, Randolph will definitely face some on the field. Coolidge loses 21 seniors to graduation, including starting quarterback
Anthony Bowser and top receivers
Martize Barr and
Josh Ford. Both Barr and Ford signed to play at New Mexico.
Randolph will also have holes to fill in the secondary as the Colts lose
Avery Williams (Utah) and
Eriq Lewis (Old Dominion).
Lane had a 39-36 record in his seven year stint at Coolidge, including four playoff berths.
