Miami Dolphins Announce Week 1 Play Football Award Winners -

MIAM GARDENS, Fla. – The Miami Dolphins announced their Play Football Week 1 award winners in a program designed to celebrate youth football in South Florida. For each home game, the Dolphins will identify a high school coach of the week, high school player of the week, youth player of the week and team mom of the week. The high school coach of the week selection will celebrate those with long-standing tenure in the coaching community, paying tribute to Don Shula’s 50^th season with the Miami Dolphins organization.

Award recipients will receive tickets to a Dolphins home game, be presented with a plaque on the field at Hard Rock Stadium and receive acknowledgment of their accomplishment in the game program and through the Dolphins’ social media platforms. The Dolphins also will recognize a team of the week who will be on the field during the national anthem.

The program concludes at the Dolphins-Bengals game where the Dolphins will honor yearly award winners in all categories with the exception of the team of the year.

Week 1 Winners

• High School Coach of the Week: Jeff Bertani from North Miami Beach Senior High School. Bertani was an assistant at Miami Norland Senior High School for two years and from there went on to coach at his alma mater North Miami Beach, where he has been the head coach for the past 23 years. The longest-tenured head coach at the same Miami-Dade high school, Bertani has made the playoffs for 13 seasons and his career record is 136-107. Bertani has been fortunate enough to have seven players make it to the NFL and more than 120 players receive college scholarships. Bertani’s teams are known for their tough hard-nosed, blue-collar attitude with most of his players playing both offense and defense. His program also prides his itself on loyalty and many of his former players come back as assistant coaches, including four at the present time.

• High School Player of the Week: Henry Parrish from Christopher Columbus High School. The University of Pittsburgh commit rushed for 324 yards and four touchdown downs to lead Columbus to a 41-7 win over Belen Jesuit.

• Youth Player of the Week: Brandon Bennett from the Pembroke Pines Optimist Bengals 11U of the American Youth Football League. Bennett was responsible for five touchdowns to lead the Bengals to a 46-0 win over the Tamarac Cougars.

• Team Mom of the Week: Maytte Hill from the Tamiami Colts of the Greater Miami Pop Warner Football League. Hill is the team mom for her oldest daughter’s cheer and tackle football teams. She works full time and puts countless hours into the program, which means the world to her.

• Team of the Week: North Miami Beach Senior High School.

The Junior Dolphins program encourages youth players and coaches to teach, learn and play football in a fun and safe environment. The Junior Dolphins program is designed to give kids access to learn the fundamentals of football using the NFL’s top resources. To grow the game, the Junior Dolphins program will work to educate coaches, parents, and youth on the health and safety of football with a strong emphasis on character development. Junior Dolphins is building the next generation of Dolphins Fans.