Camp Perry: Hot spot for firearms competition, education

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July 3, 2025

PORT CLINTON – An estimated 4,000 people from across the country will be heading to the Camp Perry National Guard base for the National Matches, a monthlong marksmanship competition starting July 10.

The event, often called “The World Series of Shooting Sports,” is run by the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), a nonprofit organization headquartered at the 9,275-acre military base along Lake Erie on State Route 2, about five miles west of Port Clinton.

Camp Perry, home to the second largest outdoor rifle range in the world, attracts competitions like the upcoming National Matches and a recent Junior Rifle Camp, which drew teams from a wide range of states, including Hawaii, California, Florida and Georgia.

But it also hosts annual conventions, like the Professional Outdoor Media Association’s annual meeting, held June 23-25.

Logan Hall, from Texas Trophy Hunters Association, fires with custom-built 6mm GT cartridges by Precision Rifle Series. (TFP Photo/Lori King)

Gary Anderson, of Oak Harbor, who won Gold Medals for marksmanship in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics, was at Camp Perry on June 23 for the first day of the Professional Outdoor Media Association’s annual meeting, a gathering of the nation’s top outdoor journalists and supporting outdoor companies. The first day was spent on the shooting range, where the media was given the opportunity to fire weapons and learn about firearm safety.

Anderson, for whom the CMP’s 80-point indoor firing range at Camp Perry is named, said he retired in 2009 as director of Civilian Marksmanship, and was given “a fancy title,” director of Civilian Marksmanship Emeritus.

“They keep me around, and I do special projects and some writing,” said Anderson, who won Gold shooting at targets 300 meters away. “That’s more than 3 ½ foot fields.”

Anderson has an electronic target and air rifle at home but said, at age 85, he no longer shoots competitively.

“My skills aren’t anywhere close to where they would have been when I was competing. I’m not too interested in shooting badly,” he said with a smile.

But Anderson still enjoys promoting the sport and teaching young shooters.

Learning how to shoot requires a fairly complicated set of skills and a lot of training. Of all the things that I do now, watching these young people shoot is probably my favorite.
Gary Anderson

Anderson said it was “a big personal reward” when the CMP named the building after him in 2014.

“That was special.”

The indoor range in the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center features electronic targets, air rifles and pistols that expel lead pellets propelled by air, which are quiet and have virtually no kickback. They are ideal for first-time shooters, according to officials.

The outdoor ranges at Camp Perry are positioned up to 1,000 yards from the shooter and provide targets for everything from vintage rifles to AR-15s.

Richfield, Ohio resident Bill Brod, of Outdoor Specialty Media, left, is shown how to fire a Rock River National Match AR-15 during the range experience. (TFP Photo/Lori King)

The June 23 media event, called the range experience, drew presenters and experts from throughout the industry, from shooting champions to manufacturers of firearms, ammunition and related equipment.

Anderson was chatting near the outdoor ranges with Scott McRee, who was at Camp Perry to promote target cameras by Longshot that enable long-range shooters to track where their bullets hit targets hundreds of yards away.

Scott McRee, who was at Camp Perry to promote target cameras by Longshot. (TFP Photo/Lori King)

McRee, who lives in Pearland, Texas, said he has been involved in long-range shooting since he was a teenager in Wisconsin hunting elk from a mile away. His hunting prowess became legendary and opened the doors for him to teach and equip military and police marksmen from around the country.

McRee said he has built rifles for everyone, from Navy Seals and local police to Hollywood stars, including the one Mark Wahlberg used in the 2007 movie Shooter.

“We call them precision rifles,” he said. “The person who shoots them is the sniper.”

He said he doesn’t like to talk about how far snipers can shoot, saying reports from Operation Iraqi Freedom are unreliable and vary wildly.

The discussions about sniper shots have taken on a life of their own, he said. In one case, a sniper reportedly shot an Iraqi soldier from a distance of 1,260 yards. But McRee said the sniper had been aiming at the enemy’s chest, and the bullet hit him in the head, so he considers it a miss.

Gary Ramey, CEO of Liberty Ammunition, was demonstrating the effectiveness of different types of ammo. He said his company’s research shows that lightweight, high-speed bullets are better than bigger, slower ones for self-defense because “speed kills.”

His company’s goal for self-defense ammo is MOD – Maximum Organ Displacement.

Gary Ramey, CEO of Liberty Ammunition, demonstrates the effectiveness of different types of ammo. (TFP Photo/Lori King)

At one of the Camp Perry ranges, professional shooter Trent Marsh fired four shots from a pistol into each of two 15-inch gel blocks, using a variety of brands, sizes and types of bullets.

The gel blocks showed how Liberty’s “Overwatch” bullets “stop inside the threat,” as Ramey put it, splitting into a “star pattern” just a few inches inside the block. Other bullets used in the demonstration exited through the back of the blocks.

Ramey said with pride that Liberty is known as “a coroner’s favorite ammunition” because they can find the bullets and conduct forensic ballistics tests.

At another media station, Sara Rozanski of Elmore, talked about her role as an instructor with the CMP.

She coaches marksmen shooting at 200-, 300- and 600-yard targets in the prone, standing and sitting positions.

How did she get started in competitive shooting?

“My Dad made me,” Rozanski said with laugh.

“I started shooting .22s at the Adams Conservation Club (in Holland, Ohio) at age 11,” she said. “Then when I was 16, I switched to high power.”

She won numerous shooting competitions and was named to the President’s Top 100 list of shooters 15 times, she said.

Now she enjoys helping out in various teaching and leadership roles with the CMP.

Justin Morrissey of the Professional Outdoor Media Association, one of the sponsors of the media event, said the goal was not just to promote shooting sports but all forms of outdoor recreational activities, including hunting, camping, hiking and fishing.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program offers training and clinics for shooters at every level, including newcomers. It also offers college scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 to high school students planning to compete in shooting sports at the college level.

For more information about the CMP Program, visit thecmp.org.

Megan Schmidt: On Planned Parenthood

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Lori King

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July 3, 2025

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IMG_3815 copy — Megan Schmidt. (TFP Photo/Lori King)

This week on Behind the Byline, Toledo Free Press reporter Jaden Jefferson is joined by Megan Schmidt, co-founder of Toledo Persists, for a personal and timely conversation about Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights in Ohio and across the country.

In the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned on June 24, 2022, by the U.S. Supreme Court, Schmidt reflects on her frontline advocacy in the abortion rights movement, Ohio’s recent vote to enshrine abortion protections in its state constitution, and the political efforts already underway to undermine those rights.

She also opens up about her own experience with Planned Parenthood, offering insight into the life-saving, often misunderstood healthcare services it provides beyond abortion—including cancer screenings, wellness and preventative care, birth control access, STD testing and gender-affirming care.

The episode delves into growing national efforts to defund Planned Parenthood through federal legislation, the rise of crisis pregnancy centers, and the personal and economic barriers many now face when seeking reproductive care. Schmidt explores how abortion access is not just a political issue, but a human one—impacting people across party lines, income levels and communities.

They also discuss how misinformation, political rhetoric and legislation are shaping the future of reproductive healthcare—and what’s being lost in the national conversation.

🔊 Tune in for a candid, critical look at the real-world consequences of these policy debates, and what’s at stake for the future of healthcare access in Ohio and beyond.

New episodes of the Behind the Byline audio news podcast drop every week on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pod Station⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Behind the Byline is a production of the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Toledo Free Press.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Recorded on July 2, 2025)

RELATED STORY | Toledo Women’s Center

Steven J Athanas: Bylaws

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Steven J Athanas

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July 3, 2025

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Flea market item reunited with family

By

George Tanber

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July 2, 2025

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The Tackle Box 1a - George Tanber copy — Tim Casey holds the tackle box he found at The Unusual Trading Co. booth. It belonged to his late brother, Mike. (TFP Photo/George Tanbar)

TOLEDO – When Tim Casey walked into Consign-It-Home Interiors on Central Ave. one morning in late May, he wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Retired with considerable free time, Casey visited the consignment shop from time-to-time, as it’s only a few miles from his home.

His interest, as always, was not in the used furniture section but the kiosks displaying mostly antique knick-knacks.

Casey stopped at one, The Unusual Trading Co., and as he rummaged through several tables and shelves filled with scores of toys, tableware, magazines and lamps, he noticed a small box.

“I’ve always been interested in boxes,” he would later say. “You never know what’s inside.”

Tim opened it.

Some life events are unexplainable. You bump into a neighbor while touring Paris. After a bad night at a casino, you drop a dollar into a slot machine on your way out and hit the jackpot. Your child’s 5^th grade teacher is the same as yours even though you’ve moved to a city 2,000 miles away.

Such was the case when Tim saw what was written in black ink on the inside lid of what was an old tackle box for fishing lures: M. Casey. Oregon, Ohio.

The M stood for Mike, as in Mike Casey, Tim’s older brother. He had been dead 21 years.

Meet the Caseys

The Casey boys – Patrick, Mike and Tim, in that order – grew up in West Toledo and attended Catholic schools. As youths, their favorite sport was pick-up hockey on Walden Pond in Ottawa Park. Tim became a sales manager for Kuhlman Corp.; Patrick, a priest; and Mike, a beloved teacher, coach and athletic director for 34 years at Clay High School.

As an adult, Mike loved to fish. He shared a boat with his good friend Frank Beier and virtually lived on Lake Erie in his free time, angling for perch and walleye.

Mike was a lifelong diabetic, a condition that worsened over the years. A kidney transplant followed by a then rare pancreatic transplant in his 50s further complicated his declining health. Mike died June 6, 2004. He was 61.

At that point, his fishing days had long since ended.

“He spent his last three months in intensive care,” Tim said. “It was terrible.”

Mike was survived by his wife of 37 years, Suzanne, whom he met at the University of Toledo, and four adult children, Patricia, Matt, Kathleen and Erin.

So respected was he at Clay, that the school established the Michael Casey Memorial Scholarship upon his death.

It continues today.

The tackle box was listed at $20. Tim got a good deal.

The aluminum-plated box, Model P-9 and measuring 6.5 by 4.5 inches, can be found on eBay for around $40. Its value likely has been enhanced by the fact its manufacturer, UMCO Corp. of Watertown, Minn., is now defunct.

Unusual Trading Co. owner Scott Carroll didn’t know the back story – he only exchanged text messages with Tim – until we reached out for comment.

He had no recollection of where he bought the tackle box but speculated it was at a garage sale somewhere in the immediate area.

“I usually cover a radius of 10 miles or less when looking for stuff,” he said.

Carroll, of Northwood, Ohio, has been in business since 1998. He recalled instances when he’d display vintage photos and family members from a later generation would stumble upon them. More common were old high school yearbooks that were discovered by former students.

But this was something altogether different.

“A coincidence?” we asked.

“Oh, no,” he said. “This is more than a coincidence.”

Mike Casey’s family feels the same way.

His youngest daughter, Erin Centa of Westerville, Ohio, said when she received the call from her Uncle Tim about the tackle box, it was just before the anniversary of her father’s death.

“Maybe it was a sign from my dad,” she said. “It comforted me a little bit.”

For Patricia Edwards of Clintonville, Ohio, Mike Casey’s oldest child, the unlikely discovery conjured up recollections of her Dad’s famous perch dinners.

“He’d invite family and friends to our home, and he had this frier he made that could handle a lot of fish at once,” she said. “And he made this light batter, not the heavy stuff you get in restaurants. That was the highlight for everyone.”

Tim Casey kept the box for a few days and then shipped it to Erin. (Mike’s wife, Suzanne, died in 2017.) Erin then returned it to Tim so he could pose with it for the photo for this story. But she had another reason for sending it back to her uncle.

“Kathleen really wanted it,” she said of the second oldest of the three Casey sisters. “She doesn’t have much from Dad.”

Kathleen (Hart) of Evergreen, Colo. was ecstatic when she returned home from a short vacation to Montreal on June 16 and found the packaged tackle box in her mail.

For her, the box, which she clearly remembered, triggered memories of fishing with her father on Lake Erie and off piers in Point Place.

“I spent lots of time on his boat, although I used to get sea sick,” she said.

As for the mystery of how the tackle box left the family, Kathleen had the answer.

“I can guarantee my brother Matt got it and all his fishing gear because he also got the boat,” she said.

Matt had health issues and died at 50 in 2019.

“When he stopped fishing, he probably got rid of everything,” she said.

Now that the tackle box is back in the Casey family, Kathleen said it’s likely her husband, new to trout fishing in Colorado streams, will use it to stash his flies.

“For sure it’s not going to sit around.”

New family memories await.

There’s little doubt her father would be pleased.

Don Lee: Federal Art Funds

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Don Lee

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July 2, 2025

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Jewish Film Festival in 2 local venues

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Ian Hubbard

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July 1, 2025

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SYLVANIA – Within its arts scene, one of the Toledo-area’s underrated gems is its creation and curation of filmmaking.

Several independent features have been shot here over the years, such as the 2022 Tom Hanks movie called A Man Called Otto. Examples of curation includes the Maumee Indoor Theater hosting special screenings, like its ‘Cult Classics’ lineup or the premiere of the low-budget feature Burt in mid–June. And the Valentine Theater runs its Silver Screen Classics in the fall, of which I try to make at least one screening.

The city has also hosted its own film festivals in the past, as well. The Glass City Film Festival took place in 2017 and 2018, for example. Between organization and funding, it takes a hell of a lot of work to put on such a show – the Black Swamp Festival cost over $100,000 to screen and promote its slate of international films.

This is why I was sincerely surprised to hear that Toledo had a Jewish Film Festival. Its first film, Bad Shabbos, was shown yesterday, June 30. The other four films will run every Monday until July 28. The festival will feature one film each screening, portraying the modern Jewish diaspora.

“We want to give light to films that will relate to and reverberate within the local Jewish community,” said Abby Hoicowitz. Hoicowitz serves as the marketing and communications manager of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Greater Toledo. Along with the Stu and Jojo Goldberg Advised Fund at the Toledo Jewish Community, the Jewish Federation is one of the major funders for the film festival, which is promoting it on their website at JewishToledo.org.

Southview High School will host four of the five screenings, with closing night taking place at the Lourdes University Franciscan Center. All screenings are at 7 p.m. and are $10 per screening. Coffee bar, popcorn and candy available.

“Both locations have given us great accommodation, not only for the screeners but the families who attend,” said Hoicowitz, “We’ve had a great turnout and even better response from the community with the iterations of the festival we’ve had in the past.”

The festival’s highlights featured in this year’s lineup are Everything’s Kosher, from Adam Fried, and Forked (a Culinary Disaster Film), via musician Liz Lachman and chef Susan Feniger.

Susan Feniger, left, and Liz Lachman. (Courtesy Photo)

The former portrays a Chicago father who seeks to fulfill a promise to his daughter. In the midst of his journey, he unturns and confronts the ugly history that has beset his own bloodline. What begins as a search for connection between Adam and his daughter turns into a confrontation with the past, even as Adam attempts to cut out a way of living for himself.

The latter film is, as promoted, a “verite-style documentary” of Feniger’s attempt to bring her passion of global street food – from Vietnam to LA – under a single cover of a Los Angeles restaurant.

Gauging from its main promotional tag of “It’s about not if one fails … but How,” the film should be an open-up discussion in the monumental steps which lay before any passion project comes to life, let alone go through being selected as worthy to show.

“We have a select panel from the Toledo Jewish Community that view and select the films,” Hoicowitz said, “We receive a lot of press releases from films which don’t have the accessibility to a narrow release, even on our current streaming services,” she said.

Paired with the highlighted screenings will be a Q&A featuring the filmmakers: Fried on July 21, then Feniger and Lachman on July 28 – the only screening taking place at Lourdes Franciscan.

The Films:

Southview High School Auditorium
7225 Sylvania Ave.

July 7: Welcome to Yiddishland

July 14: Midas Man

July 21: Everything’s Kosher

Lourdes Franciscan Center
6832 Convent Blvd.

July 28: Susan Feniger: Forked

Shuttered businesses: Closures & local alternatives

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Allyson Ritchey

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June 30, 2025

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Jo-Ann Fabrics on Reynolds Rd. In Toledo. (Courtesy Photo/Lori King) — The vacant interior of Jo-Ann Fabrics on Reynolds Rd. In Toledo. The company declared bankruptcy and announced in April that it was closing all of its locations, including two in Toledo. (TFP Photo/Lori King)

Over the past two years, Toledo has seen a sharp uptick in major chain closures—from pharmacies to fabric stores, from fashion to food. These losses have left behind more than just empty buildings. They have disrupted routines, cut off access to essential goods and created new openings for local entrepreneurs to step in.

This page will track those closures as they happen—and link you to alternative local stores and companies and in-depth stories on how the community is adapting.

Rite Aid

Status: All Ohio Locations, including eight in Northwest Ohio, have closed following the drugstore’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in October 2023, according to WTOL.

Some locations affected:

722-740 S. Main St., Bowling Green
1221 W. High St., Bryan
1816 East 2nd St., Defiance
3362 Navarre Ave., Oregon

530 W. Market St., Tiffin
5033 Suder Ave., Toledo
2450 S. Reynolds Rd., Toledo
2434 West Laskey Rd., Toledo

Impact: The closures have left gaps in pharmacy services, prompting concerns about access to medications and healthcare services.

Local alternatives:

Joann Fabrics

Status: All 800 craft stores nationwide, including multiple locations in Northwest Ohio, closed by May 31, 2025, after the company’s second bankruptcy filing in January 2025, as reported by WTOL.

Locations affected:

1991 Tiffin Ave., Findlay
1212 Oak Harbor Rd., Fremont

4948 Monroe St., Toledo
2559 S Reynolds Rd., Toledo

Impact: The closures have deeply affected local crafters and hobbyists.

Local alternatives:

Advance Auto Parts

Status: The company announced plans to close over 700 automotive stores nationwide by mid-2025, including locations in Ohio, as part of a restructuring strategy.

Locations affected:

264 S. Sandusky St., Tiffin

3139 King Rd., Toledo

Impact: These closures may inconvenience DIY enthusiasts and local mechanics who rely on readily available auto parts.

Local alternatives:

Macy’s

Status: The department store at Franklin Park Mall closed in early 2025 as part of the company’s plan to shutter 150 underperforming locations nationwide, reported by WTOL.

Location affected: 5001 Monroe St., Ste D100, Toledo

Impact: The closure has reduced local options for department store shopping, potentially affecting both employees and shoppers.

Local alternatives:

Handmade Toledo is a local alternative to Macy’s. (Courtesy Photo)

Forever 21

Status: The fast-fashion retailer, known for offering trendy clothing and accessories at affordable prices, targeting primarily young women and teens, closed in early 2025 following the company’s bankruptcy filing and decision to close all U.S. locations, including its Franklin Park Mall store.

Location affected: 5001 Monroe St., Unit 1800, Toledo

Impact: The closure has potentially left a void for local shoppers seeking trendy, affordable fashion.

Whole Foods Market

Status: The retail supermarket chain grocery store chain, known for its organic, natural and locally sourced food products, closed permanently in 2023 after four years in Toledo, as reported by WTOL.

Location affected: 3420 Secor Rd., Toledo

Impact: The closure potentially affected local access to organic and specialty grocery items.

Local Alternatives:

Tank’s Meats
Bassett’s Market
Monette’s Market (locations vary)

Big Lots

Status: The discount retailer, which offered a wide variety of merchandise, including furniture, seasonal items, home goods, food and other consumables, announced its plans to close all of its stores in 2024, including five in Toledo. Two reopened in May 2025, but three remain closed.

Impact: The closures potentially reduced local options for discounted home goods and furniture.

Locations affected:

818 S. Main St., Bowling Green
1588 Spring Meadows Dr., Holland
3010 Navarre Ave., Oregon

644 W. Market St., Tiffin
1925 Tiffin St., Toledo
3234 Secor Rd., Toledo

The shuttered Big Lots store at Spring Meadows Shopping Center in Holland. (TFP Photo/Lori King)

Party City

Status: Party City announced in December 2024 that it would close all of its stores nationwide, including those in Toledo, as part of its bankruptcy proceedings.

Impact: The closures have potentially left customers seeking party supplies and decorations with fewer options.

Locations affected:

6639 Airport Highway, Holland

4962 Monroe St., Toledo

Local alternatives:

Meredith Party Rentals

The TFP is working on making this page as in-depth as we can. Did we miss your favorite local closure? Let us know by emailing [email protected]. Keep checking back for updates.

Steven J Athanas: The Bayou

By

Steven J Athanas

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June 30, 2025

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Guelfi Firenze redeems itself in Italian Bowl

By

Mark Griffin

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June 29, 2025

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Italian Bowl XLIV - Dolphins Ancona vs Guelfi Firenze — Guelfi Firenze quarterback Andrea Fimiani dives into the end zone for one of his seven touchdowns during the 44th Italian Bowl at the Glass Bowl. Fimiani was the MVP of the game (Courtesy Photo/Italian Bowl USA/Scott W. Grau)

TOLEDO – Andrea Fimiani had a premonition about the final score heading into Italian Bowl XLIV Saturday afternoon at the University of Toledo’s Glass Bowl.

“I predicted a 40-20 game,” said Fimiani, the star quarterback for Firenze Guelfi. “I knew we were going to score 40.”

And they did, thanks to Fimiani, who threw four touchdown passes and ran for three scores in Guelfi’s 49-14 victory over the Ancona Dolphins in 87 degree weather.

Guelfi Firenze quarterback Andrea Fimiani runs with ball under pressure. (Courtesy Photo/Italian Bowl USA/Scott W. Grau)

Fimiani, who was the quarterback when Firenze (Florence) lost the Italian Bowl XLII championship game to the Parma Panthers at the Glass Bowl in 2023, earned game MVP honors. He was also the MVP of the 12-team Italian Football League this season.

“This means everything,” Fimiani said. “We wanted this so bad. We had a chance to redeem ourselves, and the score says it all.”

Both teams have head coaches from the U.S. – Rik Parker for Ancona and Byron McAdams for Firenze. The IFL has a 10-game regular season followed by playoff wild card games, championship semifinals and a title game.

Fans dressed as Italian bakers get into the Italian spirit of the game. (Courtesy Photo/Italian Bowl USA/Scott W. Grau)

Ancona Dolphins fans cheer during the 44th Italian Bowl.(Courtesy Photo/Italian Bowl USA/Scott W. Grau)

The age range for the players is 16-48, and each team is allowed two American players or two foreign players, and one player with dual citizenship.

The IFL uses NCAA football rules, the only difference being 12-minute quarters instead of 15-minute quarters. Americans are the only players to get paid by the teams. In fact, most of the Italian players love football so much they actually pay the teams to play for them, according to Massimo Foglio, 61, who has been the IFL statistician since 1983.

“I was a football player beginning in 1980,” said Foglio, who lives in Turin, Italy. “I played a few years and injured my elbow. I was 100 pounds, very small. That injury changed my mind (about playing). They asked me if I wanted to be a statistician and I said, why not?”

Foglio said most IFL games, played on Saturdays and Sundays, attract around 300 fans.

Ancona Dolphin quarterback Blake Eaton looks to throw a pass. (Courtesy Photo/Italian Bowl USA/Scott W. Grau)

Toledo bound

Ancona, an Italian town located on the Adriatic Sea, and rival Firenze players arrived in Toledo on Tuesday. They kept busy. Both teams toured the Big House at the University of Michigan; held a youth camp; and Fimiani and Ancona quarterback Blake Eaton, an American, threw out the first pitch at Mud Hens games on Thursday and Friday.

Firenze, the only IFL team to go undefeated this season, finished 12-0. Ancona, which did not play Guelfi during the regular season but had the top-ranked defense in the league, finished 10-2.

“This season was not a surprise for me,” said Parker, a native of Neenah, Wis., who has been with the Dolphins for six years, one as the head coach. “We had the talent. It was about getting the right quarterback and we did.”

Parker, the IFL Coach of the Year, said the Dolphins practiced three times a week this season.

“We’ve got guys who live three to four hours away and they would make every practice,” said Parker, adding he knew beating Firenze “wasn’t going to be easy.

Guelfi Firenze players douse head coach Byron McAdams on the final play of the 44th Italian Bowl. (Courtesy Photo/Italian Bowl USA/Scott W. Grau)

Guelfi Firenze players celebrate after receiving the Coppa Campioni d’Italia trophy. (Courtesy Photo/Italian Bowl USA/Scott W. Grau)

“Our expectations were we could keep the game close and maybe win at the end,” he said. “Two turnovers killed us, and it was hot and our defense was getting gassed. But, they never quit.”

Reaching the Italian Bowl was especially sweet for the Dolphins’ veteran players and coaches. They had lost their previous four IFL championship games before breaking through this season.

“They are our Buffalo Bills,” Foglio said, referring to Buffalo’s four Super Bowl losses from 1991-94.

The players

Many of the players have unique situations. For instance, Fimiani, 28, works as a banker in Milan and drives 3.5 hours to Florence to practice every Wednesday.

After standout Guelfi defensive end Andrea Poglietelli, 25, plays in the games, he quickly showers and goes right to work as a waiter.

American Colin Schooler, 26, who has played linebacker, fullback and slot receiver for Firenze, led the IFL in tackles this season. A native of California, he began his college career at the University of Arizona but transferred to Texas Tech during Covid and became an all-league performer before playing for the Arlington (Texas) Renegades of the United Football League.

Schooler’s brother, Brenden, a safety, has been playing for the New England Patriots for three seasons.

Playing football in Italy, Colin said, “is different.

“I’ve had much more of a player/coach role, sharing my knowledge,” he said. “These guys play for the love of football, which is not promoted as much as soccer in Italy. They love this game. To see us improve from our first practice to this game, I’m proud of them. We lost a lot of players from last year, and to have a perfect season … It’s a proud feeling.”

Guelfi Firenze players celebrate winning the 44th Italian Bowl. (Courtesy Photo/Italian Bowl USA/Scott W. Grau)

Big fans

Dominic Garcia and his wife, Arrica, both from Toledo, watched the game from The Clubhouse, located on the first level of UT’s press box. Dominic was proudly wearing an Ohio State ball cap and he, like everyone else in attendance, was impressed with Fimiani’s brilliance directing Guelfi’s offense.

“This quarterback is doing all these numbers (passing, running),” he said during halftime. “What if people in the United States notice him? Imagine putting on this kind of performance where they have to notice.”

Garcia said he only heard about Saturday’s Italian Bowl XLIV last week.

“Five minutes later, I was buying tickets,” he said. “If we don’t support stuff like this, we might get overlooked next time. I would like to see Toledo standing up more for Toledo.”

Garcia, who said he attends a couple of Ohio State football games and one NFL game every year, admitted he was technically rooting for Firenze Guelfi, a team that made traveling 4,500 miles from Florence to Toledo pay off with its first Italian Bowl title since 2022.

“I have friends in Miami who are Italian and I said, ‘which team should I root for?’ ” Garcia said. “They said, ‘not the Dolphins.’ My friends are from New York and they’re Giants fans, and so am I. I love football.”