When DuSable and Fenger high schools face off on the football field on Thursday, Sept. 15, the game will make IHSA (Illinois High School Association) history.
Fenger's Jouscelyn Mayfield and DuSable's Konesha Rhea will be the first two Black women head football coaches to contend against each other in Illinois when their teams play at Gately Stadium, The Chicago Tribune reported.
Each is looking for her first win of the season.
Mayfield, or Coach Nikki as her players call her, was born and raised in Cabrini-Green. Although she always had been a fan, her deeper interest in football started when her eldest son played for the Canaryville Lions. Rhea assisted Jen Welter, the first woman to coach in the NFL, and she played semi-pro football with the Chicago Force.
Although they will be competing against each other, Mayfield and Rhea are friends and consider themselves part of a sorority.
[UPDATE: Fenger defeated DuSable 50-0.]
The full article is at tinyurl.com/5n8fh29t .
