Bowie State University Athletics

Tonja Braxton returns to Bowie State where she served as Head Coach from 1998-2001 before moving on to Howard University. While at Howard, she won a MEAC championship in 2007 and then moved on to South Carolina State University in 2011. She brings 17 years of coaching experience back to the place she once called home.  

Braxton boasts a career 311-342 win-loss record as an NCAA coach.  During her first tour of duty at Bowie State she compiled a 126-82 record, won a CIAA Eastern Division Championship, had three CIAA championship runner-up finishes and was named Coach of the Year three times.

After her four-year stint at Bowie State, she accepted a dual role at Howard University serving as the Assistant Athletic Director for Academic Enhancement and Head Softball Coach for seven seasons (2002-2009).  Braxton compiled an overall Lady Bison record of 148-171. The Lady Bison improved each year under her direction, going from 10-26 her first season to 35-21 in 2007 when Braxton's team won the MEAC title and earned its first NCAA tournament appearance. In 2008, Howard had both the number one offense and number one defense in the MEAC. The Lady Bison also finished second nationally behind Cornell in Division I batting average. Braxton's 2009 squad won the MEAC East Division Championship with an impressive 9-4 conference mark and produced the MEAC Rookie of the Year for a third straight time. 

Braxton, a native of Silver Spring (MD), formerly served as the Deputy Director for Softball Operations for Batter Up Foundation and DC RBI in Washington, DC, where she was responsible for special events, the Regional Softball Team, the All-Star Softball game, and also assisted with the Little League Baseball Championships. For the last year, she served as a coach and college recruiting liaison for the Bowie Bluejays Travel Softball Organization.

Braxton earned both her Bachelors in Political Science (1994) and Masters in Public Administration (1996) at Bowie State where she was a standout softball player and cheerleader. She capped her college softball career by being named Coca-Cola Female Athlete of the Year in 1994.