Over three decades, he inspired numerous young athletes that went on to achieve success both in and out of sports.
This weekend, Charles Bethel’s impact in the local community is being honored as a local high school will officially be renamed in his memory.
Mavericks High located on 16150 NE 17th Avenue in North Miami Beach will officially be renamed C.G. Bethel High School at a ceremony at the school at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Bethel, who passed away at age 72 on May 19, 2016 because of complications from diabetes, spent over 30 years in the Miami-Dade County school system and coached football for six seasons from 1978 to 1983.
He coached several notable local sports figures, who would go on to become coaches themselves including former Miami Marlins player and third-base coach Lenny Harris, Booker T. Washington coach Tim “Ice” Harris, Miami Northwestern coach Max Edwards and former state representative and Miami High coach Ralph Arza.
“If it wasn’t for Coach Bethel, I don’t know where my life would be at this point,” Tim Harris told the Miami Herald back in 2016 after Bethel’s passing. “I really owe a lot to him in terms of how he structured us. He had a real tight structure to make sure we did things the right way, and he gave us the opportunity to understand dreams can come true, that you can accomplish goals. He was the father figure you always wanted to have, and he definitely played that role in my life.”
Bethel, an army brat who grew up living in South Florida and Germany became a biology and physical education teacher at Edison Park Elementary and Middle School in the early 1970s before coach boys’ soccer and later football at Miami High.
In 1978, Bethel became the first African-American head coach in Miami High’s history and coached the Stingarees for two seasons before becoming head coach at Miami Jackson for the next four years. Bethel led the Generals to a district championship in 1981.
Bethel would return to Miami High as an assistant coach under then-coach Ralph Arza, who played for Bethel in high school and whom Bethel initially hired as an assistant at Jackson.
After his coaching days, Bethel served as an assistant principal at Miami High (1985-1991) and as principal at Booker T. Washington middle school (1991-94), Miami Central High (1994-2000) and North Miami Elementary (2000-03). He later served on the board of the Florida High School Athletic Association becoming only the second African-American at the time to have occupied a seat on that board.
Miami Spring invitational
On Thursday, Homestead-Miami Speedway partnered with Ten80 Education, a micro-publisher in STEM curriculum, to host another kind of motorsports event, the Miami Spring Invitational.
The invitational featured 140 middle and high school students from Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Students convened at the Speedway’s remote control car track to showcase their teams’ skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
A total of 12 student teams from nine different schools were on hand for the event as the teams put their STEM knowledge to the test and faced each other in racing and robotics challenges, enterprise presentations, engineering projects and graphic design. The Miami Spring Invitational is a result of countless hours of hard work, determination and preparation from the students as they created projects that directly correlated with those of working professionals.
The following schools from Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties participated in the Miami Spring Invitational: Felix Varela; G. Holmes Braddock; Hialeah Gardens; Hialeah-Miami Lakes; Jose Marti MAST 6-12 Academy; Palmetto Middle; Terra Environmental Research Institute; The Benjamin School; and W.R. Thomas Middle School.
Following the competition, the best teams were presented with awards recognizing them for their achievements in the following categories: Data-Driven Design: Jose Marti Academy, Graphic Design: Jose Marti Academy, Enterprise: The Benjamin School, Race Event: TERRA Environmental Research Institute, Grand Champions: The Benjamin School.
BASEBALL
▪ Palmer Trinity 7, Ransom Everglades 6 - WP: Luis Carvajal 1-0. Owen Almeida 1-2, HR, 2BB; Joey Sulkes 2-4, 2 runs; Grant Forman 2-3, double, 2 RBI.
▪ South Broward 15, Blanche Ely 0 - WP: Lex Finkin 3 IP, no-hitter, 9 K; LP: Robert Moffet Jr. .2 IP, 10 R 1 K;
▪ Chaminade-Madonna 11, University School 8: Ryan Albright 2-3 runs; Kyle Lampert 2-3 run, RBI; Drew Snow 1-2 2 RBI; Anthony Trotta 1-3 2 runs.
SOFTBALL
▪ Ransom Everglades 12, Palmer Trinity 0 - WP: Gaby Jadotte no-hitter, 9 K; Tiffany McBrayer 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Maya Rosenfeld 1-1, 2 RBI, run; RE 4-2.
▪ Westminster Christian 15, Florida Christian 0 - WP: Victoria Perez (2-0). Hannah Kemmerer 3-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Madison Precht 2B, sac fly, 4 RBI; Isabella Artiles 2B, RBI, 2 IP; WC 5-0.
▪ St. Thomas Aquinas 15, Plantation 0 - WP: Jamie Davis. Bella Randazzo 2 runs scored.
▪ Southridge 13, Southwest 3 - WP: JayLiah Bivens. Elizabeth Valdes 3 for 3, 3 runs, RBI; Kristin Brito 2 for 3, 2 runs, RBI; Mya Tabb 2 for 3, 2 runs, RBI.
BOYS’ TENNIS
▪ Pompano Beach 7, Monarch 0: Logan Cytryn (Sr) (PB) def. Aidan Gidon (M) 8-2; Matt Fulwood (Soph) (PB) def. Damon Curtis (M) 8-4; Tony Saavedra (Jr) (PB) def. Emil Krawczyk (M) 8-3; Victor Ferraguz (Fr) (PB) def. Raphael Mascarenha (M) 8-1; Jon Jimenez (Soph) (PB) def. Drew Mackey (M) 8-0; Doubles: Cytryn/Jeff Drew(Fr) (PB) def. Gidon/Curtis (M) 8-1; Ferraguz/Jimenez (B) def. Krawczyk/Mascarenha 6-1.
GIRLS’ TENNIS
▪ Pompano Beach 5, Monarch 2 - Stephanie Vargas (M) def. Megan Tirrell (Jr.) (PB) 8-3; Luci Saavedra (Soph) (PB) def. Jessica Diez (M) 8-4; Micaela Varela (Jr) (PB) def. Brooke Gotthelf (M) 8-2; Isabella Tran (Jr) (PB) def. Natalie Krawczyk (M) 8-1; Rachel Raybuck (JR) (PB) def. Nicole Diez) (M) 8-4; Doubles: Vargas/Diez (M) def, Tirrell/Saavedra (PB) 8-4; Varela/Tran (PB) def. Gotthelf/Krawczyk (M) 8-2.
FLAG FOOTBALL
▪ Mater Academy 25, Ronald Reagan 0: Melanie Chiquillo, Daniela Ortega and Nathaly Valladares each returned an interception for a touchdown. MA 1-0.
▪ Braddock 7, Coral Park 0: Katrina Hernandez TD pass; Kayla Alvarez TD reception; Jillian Falcon 1 INT return, 50 rush yards, conversion; Liatny Arbelo 1 INT, 8 flag pulls; Gabriela Oleaga 8 flag pulls; Alexia Flores - 4 flag pulls for loss; BR 1-0.
▪ Krop 32, Miami Beach 0: B. Knowles three rec. TDs and 2 INT; L. Weingard 2 passing TDs; A. Knowles 1 rec. TD; A. Collins 2 passing TDs; KR 2-0.
BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL
▪ La Salle d. Coral Park, 25-10, 25-16, 25-17: Patrick Stoodley 12 kills, 6 digs, 1 block; Derek Bernabeu 11 kills, 8 digs, 1 block, 4 aces; Lucas Blanco 21 assists, 4 kills, 2 blocks, 8 digs; Nicholas Goff 3 kills, 1 block, 3 digs; LaS 3-0.
▪ La Salle d. International Studies Charter 25-13, 28-30, 18-25, 25-9, 15-9: Patrick Stoodley 21 kills, 1 block, 15 digs, 3 aces; Dereck Bernabeu 12 kills, 4 blocks, 11 digs, 2 aces; Kyle Fennema 17 digs, 2 aces; Lucas Blanco 33 assists, 1 block, 10 digs.
▪ Hialeah Gardens d. Reagan 24-26, 25-15, 26-24, 27-29, 15-13: Darien Hernandez 12 kills, 19 service points, 35 digs; Darian Hernandez 15 kills, 10 service points, 5 aces; Marco Ordaz 21 service points, 8 kills, 15 digs; HG 3-0.
▪ Pace d. Mater Lakes 17-25, 25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 15-7: Ah’mon Phillips 9 kills, 7 digs, 8 aces; David Durand 9 kills, 2 blocks, 6 service points; Jorge Jebian 11 service points, 13 assists.
▪ Krop d. Miami Beach 25-17, 25-12, 25-19: Zachary Winer 11 kills, 7 digs 3 aces; Gallado Oscar 8 kills 7 digs 2 aces; Ross Vaygensberg 22 assists 4 blocks; KR 3-2.
▪ Belen d. Pinecrest Prep 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21: Eric Diaz 11 kills, 12 digs, 4 aces; Nicolas Sosa 11 kills, 8 digs, 2 blocks; Joseph Perez with 7 kills 2 blocks; Bel 2-1.
▪ Braddock d. Sunset 27-25, 23-25, 25-20, 20-25, 17-15: Alex Cabana 11 kills, 5 blocks; Randy Iguanzo 42 asst, 3 kills, 1 ace; Alfredo Arevalo 12 kills, 5 aces. BR 1-1.
▪ Columbus d. Coral Gables 25-15, 25-9, 25-9: Nick Suarez 5 kills, 5 aces; Brian Clark 25 assists; Sean Salazar 7 kills, 2 aces; Col 4-0.
GIRLS’ WATER POLO
▪ Coral Reef 6, Cutler Bay Academy 5: Gabriela Alvarez 9 saves, 2 assists; Paula Chevres 3 goals, 4 steals, 1 assist; Sophia Valdez: 1 goal, 2 assists, 1 steal.
GIRLS’ LACROSSE
▪ Palmer Trinity 13, Gulliver 2: Kathryn Green 7 goals; Jacky Goodrich and Sammy Galgano 2 goals each; Marie Alencar and Brittney Lary 1 goal each.