On Sept. 26, a four-month project at Collinwood Athletic Complex reached its completion.
As Collinwood High School prepared to face Rhodes High School in the Browns High School Game of the Week, the teams took the field on the newly renovated turf. Officials dedicated the field before the game, marking the 16th synthetic turf field installed as part of the Browns' commitment to education and youth and high school football.
"What an advantage for the athletes to be able to play on this field," Ward 8 Councilman Michael Polensek said. "I want to thank the Cleveland Browns for their investment here. This is really a great opportunity for our kids to play not only on a good-looking field but a safe field. That's what's important, a safe field."
The Browns launched the project in 2016, funding five new fields in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District over two years. Since then, the initiative has helped build 17 turf fields across Northeast Ohio.
On May 6, representatives from the City of Cleveland, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, ForeverLawn, Ohio Cat, and Browns players including DE Cameron Thomas and LS Rex Sunahara, broke ground on the Collinwood project. On Sept. 26, members from the Browns organization attended the dedication, including QB Shedeur Sanders. Before the game, Sanders spoke about what the renovated field provides for the community and the importance of gratitude.
"Getting out here is beautiful and I know y'all are ready to compete and ready to go out there and play and have a good time," Sanders said. "That's the best, just being a kid and being able to have different resources. You should just be thankful for the opportunity and for the moment, because a lot of people don't have that."
CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District Dr. Warren Morgan emphasized the need to provide students with opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. Morgan referenced the field as a representation of how organizations like the Browns are providing more opportunities for students outside the classroom.
However, Morgan also looked at the work that has been done in the schools themselves. He pointed to increases in testing scores within Cleveland Metropolitan School District high schools in subjects like algebra, English language arts and U.S. government as signs of the progress going on within the school district.
"You see these scholars in front of you, they're doing their thing in the classroom and as you can also see, they're doing it also through athletics," Morgan said. "We're proud of this opportunity to provide extracurricular opportunities in athletics to them. In building brighter futures, we want to make sure every kid in every neighborhood, no matter where they live, no matter their background, no matter where they come from, has access to high-quality education and also high-quality extracurriculars."
The field will host not only Collinwood High School and other Cleveland Metropolitan schools but also the Cleveland Muny Football League. The Cleveland Muny Football League is a youth league for children five to 14 years old that uses the complex for practices, games and championships. With the renovations, the league now has another field with lights, allowing teams more flexibility for practices and games.
"We want to give thanks to the Haslam Sports Group, the Cleveland Browns, (City of Cleveland Commissioner of Recreation) Sam Gissentaner with all the tireless hours they put in to making sure that our program runs flawlessly," Director of Cleveland Muny Football Jason Dunn said. "(I want to thank) the youth football department of the Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District as well, because without you guys, what we do is not possible. I just want to give thanks to everybody out here today that's supporting the mission of continuing further in the game, growing, and just creating more opportunities for our kids."
The field project provides a crossover of the Browns' continued commitment to both education and youth football in Northeast Ohio. The primary focus of the Browns' field projects is to offer youth educational tools through "outdoor classrooms," which offer opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities that support attendance, school engagement and overall personal growth.
The new field is lined for multiple sports, including but not limited to football and soccer, and serve as a resource to further engage athletes and students in their respective districts and programs. Given the stability of the surface and less maintenance needed compared to natural grass, the fields are also more readily available year-round to youth and community groups.
"At the Browns, we're so proud of field project initiative," Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel for Haslam Sports Group Ted Tywang said. "We really view these as outdoor classrooms. We are so happy to play a role in providing this great resource to our students. We know it's going to be so much more than football – there's going to be other events as well."
As Collinwood and Rhodes kicked off, so did the opportunities the renovated field will bring. Nine years after the Browns began their field project, Cleveland Council Member Richard A. Starr emphasized continuing to build on the progress already made.
"This is a great opportunity for us to be here for this celebration and make sure we have a good victory today and continue to do the great work," Starr said. "I'm just thankful and grateful that we have this partnership and collaboration."
Learn more about the Browns field projects program by visiting https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/community/youth-football/field-projects.
