By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
The B12 Bearcats 8U team, led by coaches Leeangelo Bentley, Cordarius “CJ” Dreakford, Bradley Dexter, and Mike Vera, have an impressive 9-1 record, which includes two playoff wins. As they head into the championship game this weekend, the coaching staff credits the team’s success to the players’ resilience and determination.
“They are just some young kids who want to win,” said Bentley. “We face diversity, we are playful, and we like to have fun on the field by showing our personality. For our playing style, we like to play national football, and we like to adjust mid-game. We can adjust to a lot of different team strengths, but we are always the ones counted out.”
Dexter said that B12 Football’s culture fosters resilience and a strong sense of family. Bentley added that the organization’s deep involvement in the community may set it apart it from other programs in the area. He explained that B12 encourages its players to be more than just athletes—emphasizing academics first and developing them into active, engaged community members through activities such as car washes, food drives, and park cleanups.
“Education is our main priority, and if they don’t have the grades, then they can’t play. We are coaching them to be student-athletes,” said Bentley. “We are mainly a BIPOC organization, and we serve the underprivileged population, so a lot of our kids are sponsored or have some type of help as well with travel expenses. But all of that to say that we are really engaged with the community.”
According to Dreakford, the team has shown strong discipline and excellent teamwork throughout the season, something very admirable, especially at such a young age.
“They have been well-disciplined since the summer,” said Dreakford. “They all come to practice 3 to 4 times a week, and are just dedicated to getting better and better. The main thing for me is to keep focusing on not getting too high and not getting too low, and just getting better.”
Bentley said the team’s current level of teamwork is the result of years of playing together, and he described their growth and team chemistry as truly remarkable.
“We kind of expected that growth out of our kids, but a lot of kids have grown to become some of our main factors on the team,” said Bentley.
“The greatest strength about this group of kids is that they listen. It is the biggest thing to be coachable, and the brotherhood that they have accumulated is a huge strength,” Dexter said.
The coaches agreed that one of the biggest challenges is maintaining focus and engagement among the younger players, especially when they are surrounded by their closest friends, who are also their teammates.
“Just keeping the kids engaged and focused on playing football is one of the challenges we face,” said Bentley. “Football is not for the weak, and we are coaching them to play through the next play if they make a mistake and coaching them to keep their head up during the game. But, first and foremost, the game should be fun for them.”
Above all, Bentley says the most rewarding part of coaching is watching the kids grow both on and off the field.
“It is a big accomplishment for coaches to see them develop on and off the field because we have had some kids that started off a little troublesome in school, and a lot of them have changed that around in the classroom. A lot of the kids don’t have authority figures, so they don’t know how to respond to coaching,” Bentley said. “So, I would feel like one of our major accomplishments is that the kids are focused, practices go smoothly, and they all want to and are getting better.”
Dreakford’s passion for coaching young players comes from his view of football as a pathway to greatness in life, and a chance for both boys and girls to achieve success. As they progress through their years in youth football, he hopes they carry with them the habit of hard work and perseverance.
“I hope that they take their results from their time in youth football and over the years just keep on working,” said Dreakford. “These guys we have been coaching for three years, and the first two years were a little different than this year, because they keep working.”
