By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The Ravenna Gridiron Club was awarded the 2023 Leo Murphy Field and Equipment grant on Tuesday.

The grant is named after the longtime Cleveland Browns trainer and is awarded annually to youth football programs in the Greater Cleveland area to assist programs with securing proper equipment and resources necessary to play football safely.

The Ravenna Gridiron Club was awarded $5,000 to help purchase new uniforms.

“We feel extremely blessed and honored to receive the Leo Murphy Field and Equipment Grant,” Ravenna football head coach Joe Callihan said.

Callihan also serves as the Gridiron Club’s president.

“It is hard to put into words the feeling I had when I was able to tell our team we would be getting new uniforms,” Callihan said. “The look on so many of our kids’ faces realizing they will be getting something brand new was an experience I will carry with me the rest of my career.”

The Ravenna Gridiron Club was one of two youth programs to be awarded the grant, alongside the Ohio Elite Seminoles.