{"id":21083,"date":"2025-12-01T19:38:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T00:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?post_type=wfsu-news&#038;p=21083"},"modified":"2025-12-01T19:41:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T00:41:06","slug":"construction-is-officially-underway-at-tallahassees-champions-ranch","status":"publish","type":"wfsu-news","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/construction-is-officially-underway-at-tallahassees-champions-ranch\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction is officially underway at Tallahassee&#8217;s Champions Ranch"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-21083-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/12\/championsground1201full.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/12\/championsground1201full.mp3\">https:\/\/cpa.ds.npr.org\/s390\/audio\/2025\/12\/championsground1201full.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>Ground-breaking for the first phase of Charlie and Tonja Ward&#8217;s Champions Ranch in south Tallahassee happened first thing Monday, Dec. 1. The athletics and education complex is already nearly halfway to its fundraising goal.<\/p>\n<p>The Marching 100 from Florida A&amp;M University &#8211; where Charlie Ward is now the head basketball coach &#8211; got the ceremony off to a festive start.<\/p>\n<p>Ward&#8217;s wife Tonja welcomed the crowd, which numbered in the hundreds.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are excited about breaking ground on the first multi-sport field for the Charlie Ward Champions Ranch and the Champions Cafe, powered by Centennial Bank&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Charlie Ward said it&#8217;s not only the large corporate donors, but the many small contributions that have so far helped raised more than $9 million for the ranch.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And to our small group friends and mentors and the people who believed in this dream at every stage, you laid the foundation for today.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The fundraising goes on with an ultimate goal of $20 million. The Champions Ranch will provide opportunities for athletics, education, enrichment and life skills development for kids from all over the region.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/championsranch.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/championsranch.org<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2025 WFSU<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[],"tags":[1136,1135],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Construction is officially underway at Tallahassee&#039;s Champions Ranch - WFSU Local Routes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/construction-is-officially-underway-at-tallahassees-champions-ranch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Construction is officially underway at Tallahassee&#039;s Champions Ranch - 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