No matter how much time has passed, the City of Ravenna still remains a football town first and foremost. After taking a one year hiatus, the annual Night at the Races fundraiser returns to the Immaculate Conception Hall on Feb. 15 at 6 p.m.
“It is something that Athletic Director Jim Lunardi has been doing for years and we did not do it last year for the first time in over 20-some years,” Ravenna football Coach Brian Coman told The Weekly Villager on Jan. 16. “Night at the Races helps feed the kids pregame meals. It is really big for the program.”
The annual fundraiser is sponsored by the Ravenna Grid Iron Club, the football booster club. As long as the event has been around, it has always been run by the Ravens’ head football coach. This year will mark the first year that Coman is designated as the point person, having just finished his first season as the head football coach at his alma matter.
The event will begin with all attendees watching simulated horse races on televisions, produced by a third-party company called Nite at The Races, which broadcasts horse races at major American tracks and creates simulated races on DVDs complete with commentary by professional racetrack announcers, lead graphics and tote board results.
The fundraiser will show 10 simulated races and each one has a cap of 10 wagers allowed. In each race, an attendee is allowed to place a wager on a horse. The attendee who bets on the winning horse will receive a payout. All money collected from each race will be directly distributed to the Ravenna Grid Iron Club.
According to Coman, the money raised goes a long way in providing pre-game meals for the players and other expenses incurred by the football program.
“All this money goes back to the kids some way or another like pre-game meal,” he noted. “Every Thursday we have fed the kids and they have been doing that for years, paying for part of the HUDL (an electronic video analysis and scouting system used for sports) account payment. The Grid Iron Club has to pay for t-shirts, if we gave out t-shirts, sweat suits, and meals, you name it.”
Following the viewing the races, there will be a banquet dinner honoring Ravenna’s football program and a raffle of several gift baskets that donated by local businesses. The Ravens’ first-year coach said that the football team is also donating a basket filled with a helmet, a jersey, and some t-shirts. The attendees will be allowed to register for the raffle drawings by purchasing tickets before the event.
“It is driven by the support of the local businesses as well,” Coman said. “I like to say that is really important for the community and then not only them supporting us but then we go back and pay it forward by supporting those businesses also.”
Coman acknowledged that this upcoming Night at the Races fundraiser will carry more weight as pending the outcome of the vote on an operating levy in May, there exists a chance that the School District will need to install a Pay-to-Play policy for the following school year, which means that student-athletes’ families will be required to pay a fee that would make their children eligible to participate in athletic programs.
“They have not initiated that yet, but I do believe that is coming up and a lot of this money may have to help some kids that cannot afford to pay to play. So it is really important.” Coman noted.
While the night is dedicated to making sure the football program is properly funded, Coman stressed that it is also about recognizing the hard work demonstrated by the Ravenna gridders.
“The whole thing is about honoring the football team and the players and the communities,” Coman said. “I hope they understand that it means the community gets behind them and the sole gratification for those 10 weeks in the fall and you have a community that is behind you and willing to do things like this for them.”
Nonetheless, Coman added that the fundraiser helps demonstrate just how much pride the City places in the football program and is optimistic for a large turnout in the fundraiser’s first year back.
“I just want the community to come out and have fun and support fellowship and support a good cause. I am hoping that the levy passes, the next time the levy comes around.”
