There’s already a buzz of excitement at Start High School for the first home football game.
When the players lace up their cleats and strap on their helmets next season they’ll play on a new synthetic turf field, thanks in part to a $250,000 grant from the Cleveland Browns through the National Football League Foundation Grassroots Program.
“I’m so excited about the new turf,” said Legend Tucker, a 17-year-old running back at Start High.
“I feel like it’ll help me run faster,” he said.
The atmosphere was festive inside Start’s stadium Thursday afternoon. The band played music, cheerleaders were cheering, and students were in the bleachers. It felt like a pep rally.
Additionally, representatives from the NFL, Cleveland Browns, and Toledo Public Schools were on hand to celebrate the occasion.
The NFL Foundation has awarded more than $43 million in grants since 1998, supporting more than 320 projects nationwide.
“Within the Cleveland Browns we talk quite a bit about giving back to the community and how we can make a difference, and it’s just not just something we speak about. It’s one of the three pillars of how we view our position as an NFL franchise,” said Jenner Tekancic, vice president of community relations for the Cleveland Browns.
“We talk a lot about building a consistently winning football team, we talk about supporting our families, and we talk about giving back to the community.”
VIDEO: Donations help fund synthetic turf at Start High School
Late last year, the TPS board approved a contract with Wood County’s Rudolph Libbe Inc. to install turf fields at the Start and Bowsher stadiums and exterior lighting at the Scott, Waite, and Woodward stadiums. The turf installation is expected to be complete by July.
The project is not to exceed $2.5 million, paid through the district’s permanent improvement fund. The NFL Foundation grant helps offset that cost.
Scott and Woodward high schools already have turf football fields, and officials hope to install turf at Rogers and Waite high schools once the Bowsher and Start projects are complete.
The Browns and the Haslam family, the team’s owners, are committed to growing football participation and removing access barriers, said Roman Oben, the NFL’s vice president of youth and high school football and a former Browns’ player. They will fund six fields over the next three years, more than any other NFL team, he said.
Ms. Tekancic said the Browns’ organization thinks that contributing to the renovation of local athletic facilities is about more than sports.
“We think that this football [field] right here is not just a football field to compete on,” she said. “You learn sportsmanship, you learn about friendships, you learn about respect … you learn about collaboration and leadership.
“It’s a classroom.”
Contact Javonte Anderson at janderson@theblade.com, 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @JavonteA.
First Published May 10, 2018, 10:30 p.m.
