A full house of attendees came to see and hear from some Cleveland Sports Legends on Saturday January 17, 2026 at the Applebee's on Ridge Road. The Sports Legends of Cleveland is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to document the 115-year (1904-2019) history of the CMSD Senate League sports programs, including its teams, athletes, athletic directors, and athletic commissioners, connecting the PAST to the PRESENT for the FUTURE.
Their vision is to revitalize the middle school and high school sports programs within the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and transform student-athletes into legendary student-athletes who can compete at the collegiate, professional, and international levels.
Besides a pancake breakfast, the event included radio interviews with some of the legends and administrators on 1330 AM. This included sports legends such as Lawrence Boston (JFK), Wanda Ford (East Tech), Dennis Hayes (JFK) and Tyrone Owens (Warren G. Harding HS and coach at Rhodes HS. Wanda Ford who was inducted into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame in 2025.
Wanda Ford with Hall of Fame plaque
She grew up in a housing project in Cleveland and went to East Tech where she starred in basketball. After East Tech, Wanda Ford was an All-American at Drake University in Iowa, leading led the Bulldogs to two NCAA Tournaments. Ford became the first to record 1,500 rebounds in NCAA Women's history-setting the record with 1,887 boards. During the 1986 season, she set the record for most points in a single season with 919. They retired her #33 jersey.
After graduating from Drake, she played 16 years of professional basketball in Brazil, Italy, Spain (Font Vella Manresa), France, Sweden and Israel where she was a member of seven league-championship teams. She later returned to Cleveland where she worked with children with behavioral problems. At age of 60, she won a 3-on-3 PanAm Games basketball gold medal.
She told how she only played against the boys growing up and if practice was to start at 5AM if she got there at 5:05 she would not get trained.
Watch a short video of some of Wanda Ford's remarks.
Other panelists included Coach Tyrone Owens (Warren G. Harding HS -Taught at Rhodes HS. Track and Field, Football) who told how they were always eager to face the Collinwood Railroaders because they were so good for so many years.
Dennis Hayes was class of 1975 at John F. Kennedy (JFK) and told how he got cut from the team. He went to Ohio State as a walk on and won a national championship with Woody Hayes.
Desiree Powell, Commission of Athletics for CMSD told how the word "Senate" got lost and that the Legends are not forgotten by Cleveland.
Lawrence Boston also went to John F. Kennedy, 'Class of 74 and later was in the NBA with the Washington Bullets. He told a story of when he was playing in Barcelona Spain and someone told him there was a female player from Cleveland there. It turned out to be Wanda Ford from East Tech!
Watch a short video of some of their remarks.
Panelists Desiree Powell, Wanda Ford and Lawrence Boston
They also promoted the Olympic Park Plaza, brainchild of the late Ted J. Theodore who wrote, "The City of Cleveland has a rich and celebrated history of sporting success. It's time for us to realize and salute the many outstanding superb athletes who have represented our country as Olympic athletes in the Summer and Winter Games. We've researched and found nearly 90 Olympic participants, 26 of them as medal winners. This significant number will compare favorably with any city of comparable size in the U.S." He mentioned the two local Olympians who have gained international acclaim - Jesse Owens and Harrison Dillard - but there are many other Cleveland area Olympians who could and should be honored at this site near Wade Oval.
Olympic Park Plaza Drawing
There was also a chance to view some of the Sports Legend Hall of Fame plaques and purchase gear from various schools.
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