Kansas Shrine Bowl

Somewhere between the player introductions and the opening kickoff, football fans attending the 32^nd Kansas Shrine Bowl All-Star football game at Pittsburg State University will be focusing skyward for what has become a tradition before every Shrine Bowl game.

            They will be watching for four skydivers who will land on Brandenburg Field at Carnie Smith Stadium, bringing with them the game ball and an American Flag.  The appearance of the skydivers signals to fans in attendance and watching on statewide public television that the kickoff is imminent.

            Skydive Kansas, a company in Osage City, Kansas that has thrilled Shrine Bowl fans with their pregame jumps since 1997, provides the skydivers.  This will be the tenth year that Skydive Kansas has been a major part of the game’s pregame entertainment package.

            Jen Sharp, the owner of Skydive Kansas, (her nickname is “Head Jumpin’ Bean”) has jumped for every Shrine Bowl since Skydive Kansas has been involved.  In fact, she became attracted to the sport while in attendance at a Shrine Bowl game in Manhattan in 1987.  “I was 15”, she says.  “I was at the game because my sister was a member of the All-State Masonic Band.  I saw the skydivers, and immediately knew that was something I wanted to do.”

            She had to wait until she was 18 (the age in Kansas to sign a contract), but since then jumping out of airplanes has become commonplace to this mother of two.  To date, Sharp has more than 1,800 jumps in 17 years.

            She says jumps at events such as the Shrine Bowl are extra-special for jumpers.  “We call these ‘demonstration’ jumps,” she says.  “They are the most exciting kind.  My adrenaline is about ten times higher for one of these jumps than for a regular jump.”

            Her first demonstration jump was (appropriately) at KSU Stadium in Manhattan for a college football game…..and the jump had a few tense moments.  “As I got within a thousand feet of the stadium floor, I began to hear an unfamiliar sound.  I thought something was the matter with my equipment, but everything seemed to check out.  It was only when I got close to the ground that I realized what was going on.  The ‘sound’ was the crowd, cheering and applauding as I came down.”

            What was her most unusual Shrine Bowl jump?  “I was newly-pregnant one year,” she says.  “I jokingly told (Shrine Bowl Executive Director) Dave Mize that he thought he had four jumpers come into the stadium, but he really had five!”

            Sharp says Skydive Kansas has had jumpers from almost every state, and about three-fourths of the 105 Kansas Counties.  The Skydive Kansas staff has made over 12,000 jumps, and has a combined experience of 120 years of jumping.  More information about the company can be found at its website, www.skydivekansas.com

            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