Photo: Photo: Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Illustration - Jake Underwood
CLEVELAND – Ted Ginn, Sr. will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Union Home Mortgage during 23rd Greater Cleveland Sports Awards presented by Medical Mutual and Ancora, which will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (RMFH).
Ginn has served as head football coach of the Glenville Tarblooders since 1997. His nationally recognized coaching program, Winning and Building a Team Against All Odds, led the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) team to its first state title during the Ohio State Athletic Association's (OHSAA) Division IV championship game against Cincinnati Wyoming on Dec. 3, 2022, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
Before securing the Tarblooder's first state title in school history, Ginn helped establish the Ginn Academy, an all-boys high school for urban youth in the greater Cleveland area, in 2007.
His coaching and mentorship have assisted over 300 student-athletes in attending college post-high school graduation, including providing more than 100 scholarships for Division I schools. This effort secured the Tarblooder's program a third-place national ranking for student-athlete recipients of Division I scholarships.
Ginn has a record for mentoring former successful high school football players, including 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, Donte Whitner, Cardale Jones, Marshawn Latimore, Justin Hardee, Shane Wynn, and Pierre Woods.
Additionally, Ginn coached Ted Ginn, Jr., his son and former wide receiver, who played in the NFL for 14 seasons with the Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Chicago Bears. Before his career in the NFL, Ginn Jr. earned USA Today's #1 Defensive Player, Defensive Player of the Year, and Number One Hurdler in the Nation while attending Glenville High School.
As of 2022, 22 National Football League (NFL) players from Glenville have gone through Ginn's coaching and mentorship program.
Ginn has been featured in Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Who’s Who in Black Cleveland, and Your Teen Magazine. He received the Double Duty Dad Award from the National Fatherhood Initiative (2008), was recognized by the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association for achieving 200 victories at Glenville High School (2019), and is ranked in the top 100 of all time for victories as an OHSAA coach.
During his tenure as football coach at CMSD, Ginn led the Tarblooders to eight consecutive Senate Athletic League wins between 1997 to 2009. Glenville became the first CMSD school to reach the state playoffs, making ten subsequent appearances from 2000 to 2010. This marked the first time a Senate Athletic League team was ranked in Cleveland.com’s Top 25 multiple times.
In 2002, Ginn was named head coach of the Glenville High School Boys’ Track team, leading them to five state championship titles between 2004-2007, 2014, and most recently in 2022, where they gained their first Division II win.
Ginn was named head coach for the 2006 All-American Bowl, a high school football all-star game, where he secured a win for the East. That year he was also awarded Man of the Year by the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc., and High School Football Coach of the Year by the National Black Coaches’ Association. He was inducted into the Glenville High School Hall of Fame.
Ginn is a Cleveland YMCA Board of Trustees member and the Collinwood Neighborhood Village Development Corporation. He also serves as a trustee for the National Association for the Education of African American Children.
Ginn and his wife, Jeanette, live in Cleveland and are proud parents of two children, Tiffany and Ted, Jr., and three grandchildren, Theodore III, Kyrsten, and Kendall.
The Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Union Home Mortgage is given to a person who has dedicated their life to the advancement of sports in Cleveland. Past recipients have ranged from former Guardians’ franchise greats and Browns legends to high school football coaches in the region.
Sports Awards is the premier annual sports fundraiser supporting Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and celebrates a year of athletic achievements in Northeast Ohio, from high school stars to professional athletes.
Hosted by Joe Thomas, Cleveland’s sports scene will gather for networking, libations, appearances from local and national sports celebrities, and a live awards show mirrored on the venue’s big screen.
Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award include:
2002 – Jim Brown, former running back, Cleveland Browns
2003 – Mark H. McCormack, Founder, International Management Group (IMG)
2004 – Bob Feller, former pitcher, Cleveland Indians
2005 – Richard Jacobs, former owner of Cleveland Indians
2006 – Herb Score, former pitcher & announcer, Cleveland Indians
2007 – Joe Tait, former broadcaster, Cleveland Cavaliers
2008 – Chuck Kyle, Head Football Coach, St. Ignatius High School
2009 – Bob Kain, former CEO, IMG
2010 – Dr. John A. Bergfeld. M.D., Senior Orthopedic Surgeon & team physician, Cleveland Clinic
2011 – Reggie Rucker, former wide receiver, Cleveland Browns
2012 – Austin Carr, former guard & current broadcaster, Cleveland Cavaliers
2013 – Bernie Kosar, former quarterback of the Cleveland Browns
2014 – Tom Hamilton, sportscaster & announcer, Cleveland Indians
2015 – Jim Donovan, radio & TV personality, WKYC & Cleveland Browns
2016 – Mike Hargrove, former first baseman & manager, Cleveland Indians
2017 – Zydrunas Ilgauskas, former center, Cleveland Cavaliers
2018 – Sandy Alomar Jr., coach and former catcher, Cleveland Indians
2019 – Dolan Family, owners, Cleveland Indians
2021 – CC Sabathia, pitcher, Cleveland
Individual tickets and tables for Sports Awards are available for purchase at clevelandsportsawards.com.
About Greater Cleveland Sports Commission: Since 2000, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC) has been responsible for attracting over 210 sporting events which provide more than $860 million in economic activity to Northeast Ohio. GCSC serves to improve the economy of Greater Cleveland and enrich the community by attracting, creating, managing, and enhancing significant sporting and competitive events. For more information, visit clevelandsports.org.
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