Pioneer Athletics

Pioneer Athletics Featured in West Side Sun News Article

Thursday, October 09, 2008
By Joe Noga jnoga@sunnews.com
West Side Sun News

John Marshall High School’s football field might be as far from the National Football League as any patch of grass in the game.

But when the Lawyers step on their home turf for tonight’s homecoming contest against John Adams High, they’ll get the feeling they’re playing on the biggest of stages.

Funny how a big red “M” on the 50-yard line can change the complexion of a game.

“We’re trying to make it look on par with a professional field,” said Doug Schattinger, president of Pioneer Athletics. “It’s getting a great reaction from the kids.”

Working throughout the past four weeks with crews from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Pioneer employees helped stencil six-foot numbers on the field along with an oversized “M” at midfield and the school’s signature red colors along the sidelines.

An added touch for the homecoming game includes a checkerboard pattern in the end zones and stenciling “Marshall” at one end and “Lawyers” in the other.

The new CMSD logo will also appear on the field between the 20 and 30 yard lines.

With a local office in Cleveland right down the street from the John Marshall campus, the company recently approached the CMSD about donating field paint and accessories for the John Marshall stadium.

Both sides agreed and a community-business partnership was born.

John Marshall Principal Ronda Saegert said the field-paint partnership has been extremely well received throughout the district.

“It’s really incredible,” she said. “When the kids went out on the field, there were smiles and a sense of pride that I haven’t seen for quite a while.”

Pioneer, a national leader in field painting equipment and materials, has been in business since 1905. The company works with 14 NFL teams, hundreds of NCAA schools and more than 15,000 high schools, park, and recreation departments around the country.

Last season, the company sent a crew to New Orleans to apply field paint for the Bowl Championship Series national title game between Ohio State and Louisiana State.

According to Schattinger, the partnership with John Marshall benefits the company and the schools at the same time.

“We’re able to train our folks and the CMSD folks,” he said. “We’re going to be testing some cutting-edge products that aren’t available to the marketplace yet.”

The company will donate more than $4,000 in stencils and paint for tonight’s game.”It’s worth it when you see the kids are up in the stands and the football team is there taking pictures and they are excited,” Schattinger said. “It makes us feel good. Our entire crew is ecstatic about doing this.”

Saegert said Cleveland schools are clearly getting a bonus because field painters at other schools are learning techniques and tips from Pioneer employees.

“To me, this is what school-community relations are all about,” Saegert said. “We have this nationally renowned company in our back yard and they want to give back to the community, their neighbor.”