The Browns Youth Football Department and Equipment Staff donated over 850+ pairs of cleats along with 350+ compression shirts and additional gear/equipment to 23 high school football programs across the 13 Northeast Ohio counties on April 20th at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus.
Browns Equipment Manager Brad Melland and his staff assisted in the donation and distribution of cleats and equipment to the head football coaches at the 22 high schools and spoke with the about the health and safety of the cleats, how to properly prepare equipment and answered additional questions regarding the equipment which will be used for their upcoming season. The cleats and gear distributed have already made an immediate impact in communities across Northeast Ohio.
"The cleats have been a huge hit with our players, families and communities," said Shawn Dodd, head coach at Eastlake North. "They match our school colors and were a bigger demand than I anticipated. I'm extremely grateful for what (the Browns) provided us with. (The Browns) have already helped about a dozen families."
In total, the Cleveland Browns donated over $172,000 in cleats and over $17,500 in compression shirts and gear. These donations have significantly offset the costs that these local high school football programs would typically face heading into a new season.
"The Cleveland Browns are evening out the playing field," said Damion Creel, head coach at Lorain High School. "We have a lot of kids who don't have cleats to wear for our on field portion of workouts. Our kids are provided top notch cleats at no cost so they can perform at a high level."
In addition to the 850+ pairs of cleats that were distributed, there were over 350+ compression shirts that were distributed to these coaches as well.
"At our school, the kids don't always have the means to buy spikes,"said Joe Simon, head coach at Liberty High School. "I've had several kids ask me if I could get spikes for them. So, for us to now have 20 new pairs — in sizes that we actually need — is huge. The kids were so pumped, and I personally was just blown away by the donation."
The Cleveland Browns are committed to advancing the game of youth and high school football throughout Northeast Ohio with year-round programming for players, coaches, officials, and parents.
If you know a school or program in need of cleats, please contact the Cleveland Browns Youth Football department via email at youthfootball@clevelandbrowns.com.
