The first female to ever play football in Bethel High School history lies right here in Bethel’s  Academy of Media Arts and Design (M.A.D.). Her name is Lalani Branch. She plays defense for the school’s junior varsity team. Female empowerment represents girls worldwide. It shows that girls are into more than just makeup and boys. 

Today, we will highlight Bethel’s very first female football player, Lalani Branch.  Lailani’s inspiration for football has made astonishing history and has been an excellent representation of girls across Virginia. 

Lalani is a talented defensive lineman. The way she gets past the opposing team and gets to the quarterback is unreal. Sadly, she was injured in the first two games, but the way she bounced back and dominated is crazy. We will see her on the varsity team and continue to grow. 

On Saturday, November 8th, 2025, the Bethel junior varsity football team played its last game of the season against the Hampton Crabbers. Bethel came out on top 20-6.  On Monday, November 10th, 2025, we asked Lalani about how she would rate her performance during her junior varsity season on the scale of 1-10, and she said 7/10.  She has a lot of room to grow, and Bethel High School students and faculty are excited to see how far she can go. Even though they won their last game, it still had an emotional impact on Lalani. We hope to see her on varsity next year, shining bright.