BEACHWOOD, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns have championed girls flag football for years and were the biggest driving force in Ohio sanctioning the sport last summer. University Hospitals is also a champion of girls' flag football and the two teamed up on Thursday to support some of the area's local teams.
Thursday afternoon, the Browns and UH hosted girl flag football athletes from Lutheran West High School, Rhodes High School and John Hay High School for what they thought was a fun workout.
Inside the UH Drusinsky Sports Medicine Institute, the girls took the training field and participated in conditioning workouts. They got to interact with players from the other schools and have fun running through the lessons.
Browns linebacker and Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger joined in on the day, supporting the athletes as they went through the workout.
But, as it turns out, the day wasn't simply a conditioning event for the girls.
"We're here today to celebrate three of our local teams that are partners here with our University Hospitals, Drusinsky Sports Medicine Institute, and we're doing a little workout today to get our speed and strength going," said Dr. James Voos, UH Department of Orthopedic Surgery chair and Browns head team physician. "And then we are really excited to do a reveal today, demonstrating our commitment to the health and safety of our athletes, giving all of our three teams that are here today Caddix cleats."
Organizers pulled back a backdrop to reveal tables filled with cleats labeled for each girl in attendance. Caddix Cleats are state-of-the-art equipment built on patented SmartStuds™ technology, designed to reduce the rotational torque responsible for knee and ankle injuries. The cleats are the best of the best, worn by professional athletes across the NFL, NWSL, PLL, WLL, and NCAA.
Upon seeing them, the girls were all smiles and screams, excited to have, as one girl exclaimed, "the cleats Tom Brady endorses!"
For Schwesinger, getting to be a part of the support for girls' flag football hit close to home.
"Very exciting for me because my sister, growing up, always played football, and when she got to high school, it wasn't that big yet, so she didn't really have a chance and now she's at USC and they just started flag football, so she's playing there," Schwesinger said. "[This is] a way to support her and just support the opportunities it can give to young girls, young women, and I think also, who wouldn't want to go play the best sport in the world? Let's make it available for everyone."
The event came one day after the Browns and UH partnered to give the same cleats away to girls' flag football players at Streetsboro High School.
