Kansas Shrine Bowl Returns To Pittsburg
The annual football game called the “Kansas Super Bowl of Hope” will make an encore appearance in Southeast Kansas this July, when the Kansas Shrine Bowl All-Star Football Game returns to Pittsburg, Kansas. This year’s game will be played at Carnie Smith Stadium on the campus of Pittsburg State University on Saturday, July 29th, in what as become the unofficial opening of the football season in Kansas each year. This year’s game, the 33rd in the storied series, will be the second at PSU. In 2002, the West handled the East 27 to 13 to win Shrine Bowl 29. Like the 2002 game, the players and fans will help inaugurate some stadium improvements at the home of the Pittsburg State Gorillas. In 2002, the Shrine Bowl was the first football game played on the stadium’s new artificial FieldTurf. In 2006, more improvements will be unveiled, including new skyboxes on the west side of the stadium. The 33rd Edition of the state’s longest-running all-star game will include all of the traditional events that surround a Shrine Bowl weekend. The Shrine Bowl weekend kicks off with a massive banquet the night before the game that sets the stage for the weekend’s events. Highlights will include the individual introduction of players and coaches from both squads, and the introduction of the game’s special guest, someone who is (or was) a Shrine Bowl patient. This year’s banquet will held at the Pittsburg High School Gymnasium. Other traditional Shrine Bowl elements include the All-State Masonic Band, a unit composed of many of the state’s top high school musicians. The band performs at the banquet, at the Shrine Bowl Parade the morning of the game, and during the pre-game show and at halftime of the game itself, helping create an exciting football atmosphere. This year, more than 200 bandsmen, all sponsored by local Shrine Organizations are expected to gather for several days of practice before the Shrine Bowl weekend. Doug Whitten of the music faculty at PSU will direct this year’s band. One of the newer elements of the Shrine Bowl is the Cheerleader Camp, which provides traditional cheerleading activities before and during the game. High school cheerleaders will convene days before the game to sharpen their cheerleading skills while preparing to perform. The staff and cheerleaders at Kansas State University will conduct this year’s Cheerleading Camp. “The band and the cheerleaders not only give the game a great football ‘feel’ for the fans, they also involve a lot more young people in the presentation of the game”, says Shrine Bowl Executive Director Dave Mize. “These are wonderful experiences for students who participate because of the high level of training they receive, and because of the new friends and associations they make.” And then there’s the parade. It’s a gala affair that will march through downtown Pittsburg the morning of game day, and feature the players, the band, the cheerleaders, and of course dozens of Shrine parade units from across Kansas in what is always the state’s largest gathering of Shrine parade units. What has made the Shrine Bowl one of Kansas’ great sports traditions? Mize thinks it’s the fans. “They have come to respect what we do for the Children’s Hospitals, and for assembling many of the state’s finest athletes at one time, in one place, in top-flight competition”, he says. “And they’ve come to expect that everything we do is excellent, from the quality of the football, to the band, to the cheerleaders. It’s one of the top values for the sports dollar in the entire state every year.” Proceeds from the game support the Shriner’s Hospitals for Children, a network of 22 hospitals that provide expert, no-cost orthopedic and burn care to children under 18.
Advance reserved chairback tickets are $20.00 in advance, $21.00 on game night. Adult general admission tickets are $9.00 in advance, $10.00 on game night. Student tickets are $5.00 in advance, $6.00 on game night. Banquet tickets are $20.00, and must be purchased in advance. Advance game tickets and banquet tickets can be purchased through the Shrine Bowl office by calling 1-800-530-5524. Additional information and a link to Shriners Hospitals for Children can be found at http://www.ksshrine.com
|