Southeast High football team builds barbershop in locker room to build team chemistry

BRADENTON, Fla. - There's so much pride that goes into being a Southeast High School Seminole football player.

"There’s a lot of legends to walk through the hallways of Southeast," Southeast High School head football coach Curt Bradley said. 

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Walking in the footsteps of legends is what makes wearing the orange and blue on Friday nights extra special.

What they're saying:

"Being a Seminole is like you are carrying on the legacies of everyone else who came before us and how much it means to the community to be a Southeast Seminole to put on for the east side of Bradenton, basically," Southeast senior football player Caleb Steele said. "It’s a great experience, great feeling to be a Seminole."

It's even better to be a Seminole now that the team is winning games on Friday nights for the first time in a long time.

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"Southeast is back," Southeast senior football player Dominik Tellau said. "You know what I’m saying? Everyone thinks Southeast is back on the map. We are putting them back on the map."

After an 8-2 regular season, this team has quickly left its own legacy.

"The mentality on the field is to go out there and execute," Steele said. "Be better than every team."

However, it isn't just about being better, they want to look the part too.

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"It’s an awesome opportunity for our young men to look good, feel good and play good," Bradley said. 

Big picture view:

This season, the team installed a barbershop in the locker room to ensure the team looks good on Friday nights. It's been in the works for over a year, and Bradley is glad to see his vision come to fruition.

"This was just a really big space in a wonderful locker room, and we wanted to do something fun with it," Bradley said.

With some donations of former Southeast alums to make the barbershop come to life, an unused area previously designated for showers now isn't just wasted space. 

"Every time we come in here, it’s packed," Steele said. "We sit here and laugh and tell the jokes. It’s just a great experience. Great feeling."

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It's like a regular barbershop, but the end results mean so much more than a fresh look. 

Dig deeper:

"Every time you get a haircut, Thursday you wake up feeling good," Tellau said. "Once you are feeling good, you play good. Every time."

Every Thursday night the team meets in the "Legends Lounge" in the locker room. Every time the Seminoles get their hair cut, its former Southeast football players doing the cutting.

"It’s amazing," 2011 Southeast High School grad Timothy Brice said. "Just to be able to come back and interact with the ball players. It means a lot. It’s awesome to be around these jitterbugs."

The Southeast jitterbugs are grateful for the barbers, but the two alums who come in are happy to be a part of a team again. 

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"I love what Coach Bradley is doing," 2004 Southeast High School grad Marquis Woodard said. "He’s changing the atmosphere for these guys. Something when I came up, we didn’t have. We setting them up to be great. This is what the pros do. To have this right now? It’s special."

The Buzz in the locker rooms

Special doesn't even begin to describe it. There's been over 100 haircuts in the locker room this season.

"It’s always a race to see who gets dibs on the first haircut," Bradley said. 

But whoever goes first, still stays for whoever is last because they know these times won't last forever.

"Any time you spend time together as a program, you are going to grow closer," Bradley said. "It’s become something that has become very enjoyable. Just a good chance to bond and spend time with these guys."

The bond created in the barber shop has made the team inseparable.

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"The family we have here, it’s something that is rare to see from a football team," Steele said. 

And, it's rare that Thursday nights have become just as important as Friday nights for a high school football program.  

"There have been a lot of fun stories told in here and when you are a closer program, it helps on Friday night," Bradley said.

What's next:

The goal is to grow this locker room barbershop experience even more. The Seminoles plan on broadcasting a podcast while they are getting their hair cut on Thursday nights. 

BradentonHigh School Sports