Every athlete likes to play "under the lights," whether a youth league player or a professional footballer who plays at FirstEnergy Stadium.
On December 5, 2015, the Phil Cullem Renegades battled under the lights at the newly renovated Dwayne Browder Field in Cleveland. This was the first night game played at home in Renegades Football history.
The field, located on the grounds of the old East Tech High School, was re-built in the fall of 2015 in a collaborative effort of the City of Cleveland, Cleveland Browns, FirstEnergy and the Burten Bell Carr Community Development Corporation.
The lights were donated by The Illuminating Company, a FirstEnergy utility. In November, about 20 Illuminating Company employees donated their time to install the four light poles. They worked for about 10 hours to complete the job.
Now, the field can now be used for night games, which is very exciting for the players.
The December 5 game also was exciting because part of it was filmed for a FirstEnergy commercial. View the commercial.
Phil Cullem founded the Renegades Football program in 1986 to keep kids off the streets. The program provides players, ages eight to 14, with a safe zone and support to achieve their goals on and off the field.
The field is named after Dwayne Browder, a long-time Cleveland Muny Football League coach and a community leader in Ward 5.
