Colorado’s first female HS football head coach: ‘I was just following my passion’

By Stephen Spiewak | Posted 7/5/2017

Late on Friday night in Vancouver, British Columbia, the U.S. Women’s National Team captured the gold medal in the IFAF Women’s World Championship for the third consecutive time.

Hours later and nearly two thousand miles away, the role of women in football continued to grow.

The Daily Camera reported on Saturday that Beth Buglione had become the head football coach at Nederland High School (Colo.), marking the first female head football coach in Colorado history.

Buglione moved to Colorado from Oregon in May and became the school’s head coach in early June, according to the report. She has an extensive football background that includes both playing, coaching, and serving as an official.

SEE ALSO: U.S. National Team captures gold in 2017 IFAF Women's World Championship with victory over Canada, 41-16

Though she’s breaking down barriers in the sport, Buglione never set out to be a trailblazer. She was merely following her love of football.

"It was never my intention to put a spotlight on me and to prove that women can do the job,” she said. "I was just following my passion."

As women like Jen Welter, Kathryn Smith and Katie Sowers continue to grow their football coaching careers at the professional level, women coaches are similarly breaking ground at the high school level.

Last fall, Lakatriona Brunson became the first female head coach in the state of Florida. She led Jackson (Miami) to three wins.

In 2014, Brittney Garner became the first female head coach in Tennessee, while Susan Gremillion accomplished the feat in Louisiana a year later—ultimately leading her team to a state title.

Natalie Randolph is believed to be the country’s first female high school football head coach ever. She took the reins at Coolidge (Washington, D.C.) before the 2010 season.

MORE: Collette Smith is latest woman to get a shot coaching in the NFL

Seven years later, women continue to make tremendous strides at all levels of football. After all, as Buglione points out, football is football, no matter who’s coaching it (or playing it).

"If you know what you're doing, the kids are going to accept you and the other coaches are going to accept you,” she said.

Video: The U.S. Women’s National Team

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