Bradford Bulldogs – Athletic Preview

Bradford Athletic Preview

As the school year season inches closer so does our fall athletic season. 

Our fall athletic season brings in 44 students who will be competing in one of three sports offered: football, volleyball and cross country. 

There is a whole new excitement surrounding this season with the newness of athletes and coaches for the Bradford Bulldogs. There is a heightened level of commitment from students who are willing to work hard and give it their all. 

“We have been able to hire some incredible coaches this year who are willing to put in the extra work and help grow our athletic programs to be the best,” Adrian Edwards, athletic director at Bradford Academy, said. “Our student athletes are a dedicated group (of athletes) who want success both on and off the field. It will be awesome to watch their hard work come to fruition this season.”

We took some time to get to know our new coaches. Keep reading to learn more about them and the upcoming season.

Meet our football Coach Dion Alexander.

He was born and raised in Detroit and coached at West Bloomfield High School for two years before arriving at Bradford Academy. He is putting together a positive and enthusiastic football team that will be successful through hard work and dedication. Their biggest goal will be to win and to compete for the charter school league championship. 

Players to be looking out for are Antonio Lyles, Jordan Durant, Quan Jones and Marcus Franklin. 

The first game of the season is Friday, August 30 at Hazel Park at 4 p.m. He hopes to see you there cheering them on to victory.

In Dion’s spare time, he is a personal trainer at LA Fitness and coaches his 10-year-old son Derion at the local youth football team Southfield Ravens.

Meet our volleyball coach, Dana Cooper.

 

Dana was born and raised in Detroit where she was a competitive athlete in high school and played volleyball, track, softball and cheered. She has a long history of coaching in the area including Chandler Park Middle School and Chandler Park High School (7 years) and Southfield High School (2 years). She also has her own travel volleyball organization (Volleyball Elite) that she has run for the past 10 years.

Dana has been hard at work developing a volleyball program at Bradford where the girls train hard, gain confidence and learn the essential skills to be competitive and successful on and off the court. She is willing to go the extra mile and provide support during the offseason through training and setting attainable goals. 

In Dana’s spare time she spends time with her family, two kids and loves to travel and workout.