Debi Martinez shares much with a typical football coach, but not her gender

Debi Martinez remembers her days in Texas cheering for the Dallas Cowboys, watching Brett Favre toss touchdown passes for the Green Bay Packers and being a cheerleader on the sideline.

That passion for football translated into her becoming a team manager and keeping statistics when one of her sons played as a youngster.

Martinez, 33, still roams the sideline during football games, but in an authoritative role.

She is head coach of the Prince William Cowboys, an AAU-sanctioned 14-and-under team in its first season.

"I love to be on the sidelines and I love to be a part of it," she said, adding that being a coach was always among her interests.

Martinez has also coached flag football and basketball.

Football, though, is her passion. When Martinez's friends asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, her response's was: 'I am going to be the first female NFL head coach.'"

"I never really played sports myself," she said. "I've cheered most of my life. But I've always loved football."

Her familiarity with her players, some of whom attend Beville, Benton and Woodbridge Middle Schools, comes from coaching them in flag football and basketball.

The 19 players who make up the Cowboys respect her coaching style.

"She seems to know a lot about the game," said 14-year-old Shawn Braxton, who also plays for Martinez as a basketball player.

But Braxton and his teammates know Martinez demands perfection. A player must run for failing to execute his assignment, do 10 pushups for missing a tackle or blocking assignment and must address her by saying "Yes, coach." She also chastises them for making mistakes during games.

"She pushes us all the time," said Alex Martinez, Debi's son and the team's quarterback. "She never lets us quit. She makes sure we know everything about who we're playing and where we're playing. She's a great improviser."

The athletes respond to her style, knowing they must if they wish to win.

"We have got some amazing kids on this team and I'm not saying I could walk into any football team and command respect the way I do with these particular kids," Debi Martinez said. "But these kids want to be great. They listen because they know we are trying to lead them to what they deserve to be, which is the national champions.

"They respond very well. I'm very intense. I can look at them and say you need to give me more and they will listen to me. They will go out there and give us more."

She cares for her players, who say she makes everyone feel part of an enjoyable situation by providing words of encouragement during practices and games.

"Other people who've been in that situation or really know her say, 'Oh, she's a good coach,'" Braxton said.

Martinez will again walk the sideline when the Cowboys (9-0) play for the national AAU tackle football championship.

The team has held fundraisers to make its trip to Orlando, site of a five-game, three-day schedule. The trip will conclude a season spent playing games in Maryland and practicing on the baseball field behind the Dale City Recreation Center.

She is driving a van full of players to Florida for an experience she hopes they won't soon forget.

And no matter the outcome, coaching -- despite the large time commitment -- has been worth it.

"The most challenging thing was juggling the many different hats I had to wear because at the very beginning, I was the team mom, team president, coach, person who picked up the team and it was definitely overwhelming," Martinez said.

"I think I had to find my groove of how I was going to be able to effectively communicate with all the parents on the team, what kind of communication level I could expect back from them and how to communicate differently with each of the different groups of parents. Some parents give an instant response and some people you don't hear from. So you have to juggle all of that.

"It was a great learning experience for me."

Staff writer Robert Daski can be reached at 703-878-8049.