Head Coaches Selected for 51st Kansas Shrine BowL
Wamego’s Weston Moody and McPherson’s Jace Pavlovich to lead 2024 Kansas Shrine Bowl teams
| Kansas Shrine Bowl Announces 2024 Head Coaches |
Weston Moody
The Kansas Shrine Bowl Board of Directors is excited to announce the selection of Weston Moody, Wamego, and Jace Pavlovich, McPherson, as the next head coaches of the Kansas Shrine Bowl. The 51st Kansas Shrine Bowl presented by Mammoth will be played on Saturday, June 29, 2024, at Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kansas. The head coaches are selected from the group of assistant coaches in the previous year’s game. This selection is determined by a vote from the previous coaching staff, camp directors, trainers, and managers.
The East team will be led by Wamego High School Head Coach, Weston Moody. Coach Moody is entering his sixth season as the Head Coach at Wamego High School, where he has compiled an overall record of 38-15. Wamego is coming off a 12-1 season that included their first ever state championship game appearance in 2022. Coach Moody was named the 4A Coach of the Year by multiple outlets following his program’s historic 2022 season.
"I am honored to be selected as the Head Coach of the Shrine Bowl East squad,” said East Head Coach Weston Moody. “I'm humbled to be able to play a small part in the efforts of the Shriners, who provide care to youth in need worldwide and highlight the best football players in the state of Kansas. I'm grateful for this opportunity, and it would not be possible without our players, staff, Wamego community and my family."
The East team will be led by Wamego High School Head Coach, Weston Moody. Coach Moody is entering his sixth season as the Head Coach at Wamego High School, where he has compiled an overall record of 38-15. Wamego is coming off a 12-1 season that included their first ever state championship game appearance in 2022. Coach Moody was named the 4A Coach of the Year by multiple outlets following his program’s historic 2022 season.
"I am honored to be selected as the Head Coach of the Shrine Bowl East squad,” said East Head Coach Weston Moody. “I'm humbled to be able to play a small part in the efforts of the Shriners, who provide care to youth in need worldwide and highlight the best football players in the state of Kansas. I'm grateful for this opportunity, and it would not be possible without our players, staff, Wamego community and my family."
Jace Pavlovich
McPherson High School Head Coach Jace Pavlovich will lead the 2024 Kansas Shrine Bowl West team. Coach Pavlovich is entering his ninth season as the Head Coach at McPherson High School where he has put together a career record of 72-18. Pavlovich enters the 2023 season tied with Tom Young as the program’s all-time wins leader. The Bullpups finished 10-2 during the 2022 season.
"I am honored and privileged to be chosen to lead the West squad this year,” said West Head Coach Jace Pavlovich. “To have the privilege of being a small part of this great event and to help in the noble cause it represents is a dream come true. I am grateful for being chosen, but the credit should rest with the outstanding players, coaches, and administrators at McPherson High School. Westside!"
The 51st Kansas Shrine Bowl presented by Mammoth is returning to Emporia on June 29, 2024, for the sixth time and first since 2016. The West Team won the 50th Kansas Shrine Bowl presented by Mammoth, 21-20, on Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Hays, Kansas. The West now holds a 31-17-2 advantage all-time and has not lost since 2018, with four wins and a tie (2022) since the last East victory in 2018.
“We’re excited to have both of these great coaches associated with our organization,” said Kansas Shrine Bowl Executive Director, B.J. Harris. “To be selected by your peers is an honor and reflects the type of skill and character both Coach Moody and Coach Pavlovich possess. We’re looking forward to working with both as we continue to grow the Kansas Shrine Bowl and maximize our impact on Shriners Children’s.”
For more history of the Kansas Shrine Bowl and information on how to donate, please visit www.KansasShrineBowl.com.
Contact the Kansas Shrine Bowl
PO Box 53, Spring Hill, KS 66083
(913) 602-8656
director@KansasShrineBowl.com
assistant@KansasShrineBowl.com
events@KansasShrineBowl.com
The Kansas Shrine Bowl is an East vs. West, statewide all-star high school senior football game put on each year by the Kansas Shrine. It is a 501(c)3 non-profit charity that produces annual events and related activities, with net proceeds benefiting Shriners Children’s. The Kansas Shrine Bowl has sent over $3.7M to Shriners Hospitals for Children. The game has been played throughout Kansas each summer since 1974. Host cities have included Lawrence, Manhattan, Wichita, Topeka, Hays, Emporia, Pittsburg, Dodge City and Hutchinson. Beginning in 1974, the flagship event has been the East/West All-Star Football Game. As of 2023, the West leads the series with 31 wins, the East has 17 wins, and there have been two ties. Notable alumni include NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, former All-Pro Wide Receiver Jordy Nelson, former All-Pro NFL Defensive Back Terrance Newman, former Kansas State and Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Gary Spani, former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl Champion Linebacker Mark Simoneau and many others.
The Kansas Shrine Bowl also includes the Kansas Masonic All-State Marching Band Camp and Kansas Shrine Bowl All-Star Cheer Camp. Additional events include the Shriners Hospital Experience, Participant Appreciation Banquet, Parade, Golf Tournament and more. All Shrine Bowl events are produced and presented to benefit Shriners Children’s. Shriners Children’s is a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research, and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals. Children up to the age of 18 are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients' ability to pay.
"I am honored and privileged to be chosen to lead the West squad this year,” said West Head Coach Jace Pavlovich. “To have the privilege of being a small part of this great event and to help in the noble cause it represents is a dream come true. I am grateful for being chosen, but the credit should rest with the outstanding players, coaches, and administrators at McPherson High School. Westside!"
The 51st Kansas Shrine Bowl presented by Mammoth is returning to Emporia on June 29, 2024, for the sixth time and first since 2016. The West Team won the 50th Kansas Shrine Bowl presented by Mammoth, 21-20, on Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Hays, Kansas. The West now holds a 31-17-2 advantage all-time and has not lost since 2018, with four wins and a tie (2022) since the last East victory in 2018.
“We’re excited to have both of these great coaches associated with our organization,” said Kansas Shrine Bowl Executive Director, B.J. Harris. “To be selected by your peers is an honor and reflects the type of skill and character both Coach Moody and Coach Pavlovich possess. We’re looking forward to working with both as we continue to grow the Kansas Shrine Bowl and maximize our impact on Shriners Children’s.”
For more history of the Kansas Shrine Bowl and information on how to donate, please visit www.KansasShrineBowl.com.
Contact the Kansas Shrine Bowl
PO Box 53, Spring Hill, KS 66083
(913) 602-8656
director@KansasShrineBowl.com
assistant@KansasShrineBowl.com
events@KansasShrineBowl.com
The Kansas Shrine Bowl is an East vs. West, statewide all-star high school senior football game put on each year by the Kansas Shrine. It is a 501(c)3 non-profit charity that produces annual events and related activities, with net proceeds benefiting Shriners Children’s. The Kansas Shrine Bowl has sent over $3.7M to Shriners Hospitals for Children. The game has been played throughout Kansas each summer since 1974. Host cities have included Lawrence, Manhattan, Wichita, Topeka, Hays, Emporia, Pittsburg, Dodge City and Hutchinson. Beginning in 1974, the flagship event has been the East/West All-Star Football Game. As of 2023, the West leads the series with 31 wins, the East has 17 wins, and there have been two ties. Notable alumni include NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, former All-Pro Wide Receiver Jordy Nelson, former All-Pro NFL Defensive Back Terrance Newman, former Kansas State and Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Gary Spani, former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl Champion Linebacker Mark Simoneau and many others.
The Kansas Shrine Bowl also includes the Kansas Masonic All-State Marching Band Camp and Kansas Shrine Bowl All-Star Cheer Camp. Additional events include the Shriners Hospital Experience, Participant Appreciation Banquet, Parade, Golf Tournament and more. All Shrine Bowl events are produced and presented to benefit Shriners Children’s. Shriners Children’s is a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research, and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals. Children up to the age of 18 are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients' ability to pay.
west defeats east 21-20 in 50th kansas shrine bowl
Final Stats - 50th Kansas Shrine Bowl
Game Story by: Rick Peterson Jr., KSHSAA Covered (original story here)
HAYS – Tony Crough had Little River’s Braxton Lafferty pinned as a possible breakout star in the Kansas Shrine Bowl.
The more the Hays High coach watched the Eight-man standout in the West practices, the more Crough thought Lafferty would turn heads at linebacker.
“We said: Watch out for Braxton,” said Crough, head coach for the West squad. “There’s more people on the field than he’s used to having, so we didn’t know what it’d look like, but once he practiced a little bit and got comfortable, he showed that he's got some special skills.”
Those skills were on display in the 50th edition of the Shrine Bowl, with Lafferty logging a game-high 12 tackles and sealing a 21-20 West win with a late sack on Saturday at Fort Hays State’s Lewis Field Stadium.
“Just was playing my heart out,” said Lafferty, a Fort Hays State signee. “I didn’t want to leave anything out on the field. I wanted to show people that Eight-Man people are players too. We can play with the big dogs.”
Lafferty helped the West hold off the East’s fourth-quarter comeback. He blitzed off the edge and notched a sack on a 4th and 17 at the West 45 on the East's final possession. Lafferty recorded 3.5 tackles for loss.
“We were talking in the huddle that we weren’t going to blitz, and then coach called a blitz, and my eyes lit up,” said Lafferty, who was a part of a state championship and two runner-up teams at Little River. “I was ready to go. Caden Miranda pancaked the tackle and it opened up a gap for me to go.”
Lafferty was one of several West players who stood out on the defensive side. Hays’ Evan Lind and El Dorado’s Jalen Rice each had interceptions to set up touchdowns. Andale’s Riley Marx and Beloit’s Grady Seyfert were among other key playmakers on defense.
“It was impressive,” Crough said of the defensive effort. “(McPherson coach Jace Pavlovich) had a good plan put together, and we executed it really well. We knew we were going to have to get some takeaways. They had some big backs, a big offensive line over there, good quarterbacks. We knew if they got their run game going it could be trouble.”
Quarterbacks Keenan Schartz (Manhattan) and Keller Hurla (St. Marys) were named Most Valuable Players for their respective sides. Both are headed to Washburn.
Schartz completed 16 of 18 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown and also had a rushing TD for the West. His father, Manhattan coach Joe Schartz, was an assistant for the West. Manhattan went 13-0 last year and captured the Class 6A state championship.
“The Shrine Bowl has always been something I wanted to do, just because my dad played in it in ‘93,” Keenan said. “It’s a big thing in the Schartz family. Coming in, I didn’t really understand, but by the end of the week I definitely understood what this game means. It’s just been a blast, this whole experience.”
The East trailed 21-6 after three quarters but crept within a point after a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. After a 1-yard TD run from East’s Eric Butler (Olathe Northwest) made it 21-20 with 5:33 left, the East went for the lead, but Hurla’s pass fell incomplete on the two-point try.
The decision to go for two took a tie out of the equation after last year’s game in Pittsburg ended in a 10-10 stalemate.
“(The decision was) easier because our short snapper got hurt,” said East head coach Clint Rider of Blue Valley Northwest. “But I told the guys if we got close we weren’t going for the tie. We don’t do that on the East side. We were going to go for two if it came down to it. We ran the best play we had left, and the (West) played it really well.”
The West struck first when a 23-yard pass from Schartz to Hesston’s Jake Proctor set up a 1-yard TD run from Salina Central’s Kenyon McMillan with 3;36 left in the first quarter.
Lind, who represented Hays High along with teammate Bryce Salmans, set up the West’’s second TD after picking off a pass from his linebacker spot and returning it 24 yards to the East 20. Schartz hit Circle’s Ty Smith over the middle for a touchdown on the next play.
Marx, who won a fourth straight 3A state championship with Andale last year, helped create Lind’s pick.
“I saw where the ball was going, and (Marx) was right in the lane, perfectly," Lind said. “It just bounced off his chest and I was right there and took off.”
“That’s what he did (at Hays High),” Crough said of Lind. “He had three touchdowns this year. He’s just kind of a ball magnet. Evan got picked up (for the Shrine Bowl) a month ago. We felt like at Hays High we had five or six guys that were capable of playing in this game, and Evan was one of them. He got his opportunity and took advantage of it.”
The East scored late in the second quarter on a 11-yard pass from Hurla to Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Malik O’Atis but didn’t convert the PAT. The West led 14-6 at halftime.
Rice came up with a huge play in the third quarter, picking off a pass at midfield and returning it 46 yards to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Schartz.
“He’s going to be a really good college linebacker,” Crough said of Rice. “He’s what a lot of those linebackers are now – ex-running backs. He’s quick, he’s athletic, he can tackle.”
The East dominated the fourth quarter. Hurla found Girard’s Luke Niggemann for a 4-yard touchdown pass and the East tacked on the two-point try on a pass from Axtell’s Isaac Detweiler to Troy’s Jerrit Norris to make it 21-14 with 8:51 left.
After a defensive stop, the East marched 59 yards and punched it on Butler’s plunge before missing the two-point try.
The East outgained the West 281-181 but were hurt by three turnovers.
“We were moving the ball quite a bit throughout the game,” Rider said. “We gave them some short fields, and missed a red zone opportunity – those two things hurt.
“Our kids just battled. Keller (Hurla) came in at quarterback, and, gosh, he’s just a competitor and played a great game. We just came up a little bit short but our guys are fighters and they’re great men of character.”
Hurla finished 9 of 11 for 103 yards through the air with two touchdowns and rushed for 48 yards on 14 carries.
Crough said it was a week he’ll cherish.
“Hays is just such a special place,” said Crough, a Garden City native who is entering his sixth season as Hays High coach. “A lot of people don’t know about it, especially when you get past Salina and Manhattan. We felt like we could put our best foot forward and show what a great community and great facility we have. It was a great crowd here.
“For me, playing in the Shrine Bowl and having a camp here and coaching in the game here, it’s just kind of full circle. It was real special for me and for this community.”
Sanders on hand for Hall of Fame induction
NFL legend Barry Sanders was in attendance for his induction into the Kansas Shrine Bowl Hall of Fame along with his high school coach at Wichita North, Dale Burkholder.
Sanders and Burkholder were recognized in a pregame ceremony.
Sanders, who played in the 1986 Shrine Bowl, won the Heisman trophy at Oklahoma State before establishing himself as one of the greatest running backs of all-time in a 10-year career for the Detroit Lions. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
“I really cherished being a Shrine Bowl participant,” Sanders told the crowd. “I watched the game growing up and I feel like I was really fortunate to be picked to play in the game. This is such a fantastic atmosphere. I can’t believe it’s been so many years since I participated in it.
“I look back with such fond, fond memories of being able to participate in it. It’s been a tremendous day and I’ll remember this forever.”
Game Story by: Rick Peterson Jr., KSHSAA Covered (original story here)
HAYS – Tony Crough had Little River’s Braxton Lafferty pinned as a possible breakout star in the Kansas Shrine Bowl.
The more the Hays High coach watched the Eight-man standout in the West practices, the more Crough thought Lafferty would turn heads at linebacker.
“We said: Watch out for Braxton,” said Crough, head coach for the West squad. “There’s more people on the field than he’s used to having, so we didn’t know what it’d look like, but once he practiced a little bit and got comfortable, he showed that he's got some special skills.”
Those skills were on display in the 50th edition of the Shrine Bowl, with Lafferty logging a game-high 12 tackles and sealing a 21-20 West win with a late sack on Saturday at Fort Hays State’s Lewis Field Stadium.
“Just was playing my heart out,” said Lafferty, a Fort Hays State signee. “I didn’t want to leave anything out on the field. I wanted to show people that Eight-Man people are players too. We can play with the big dogs.”
Lafferty helped the West hold off the East’s fourth-quarter comeback. He blitzed off the edge and notched a sack on a 4th and 17 at the West 45 on the East's final possession. Lafferty recorded 3.5 tackles for loss.
“We were talking in the huddle that we weren’t going to blitz, and then coach called a blitz, and my eyes lit up,” said Lafferty, who was a part of a state championship and two runner-up teams at Little River. “I was ready to go. Caden Miranda pancaked the tackle and it opened up a gap for me to go.”
Lafferty was one of several West players who stood out on the defensive side. Hays’ Evan Lind and El Dorado’s Jalen Rice each had interceptions to set up touchdowns. Andale’s Riley Marx and Beloit’s Grady Seyfert were among other key playmakers on defense.
“It was impressive,” Crough said of the defensive effort. “(McPherson coach Jace Pavlovich) had a good plan put together, and we executed it really well. We knew we were going to have to get some takeaways. They had some big backs, a big offensive line over there, good quarterbacks. We knew if they got their run game going it could be trouble.”
Quarterbacks Keenan Schartz (Manhattan) and Keller Hurla (St. Marys) were named Most Valuable Players for their respective sides. Both are headed to Washburn.
Schartz completed 16 of 18 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown and also had a rushing TD for the West. His father, Manhattan coach Joe Schartz, was an assistant for the West. Manhattan went 13-0 last year and captured the Class 6A state championship.
“The Shrine Bowl has always been something I wanted to do, just because my dad played in it in ‘93,” Keenan said. “It’s a big thing in the Schartz family. Coming in, I didn’t really understand, but by the end of the week I definitely understood what this game means. It’s just been a blast, this whole experience.”
The East trailed 21-6 after three quarters but crept within a point after a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. After a 1-yard TD run from East’s Eric Butler (Olathe Northwest) made it 21-20 with 5:33 left, the East went for the lead, but Hurla’s pass fell incomplete on the two-point try.
The decision to go for two took a tie out of the equation after last year’s game in Pittsburg ended in a 10-10 stalemate.
“(The decision was) easier because our short snapper got hurt,” said East head coach Clint Rider of Blue Valley Northwest. “But I told the guys if we got close we weren’t going for the tie. We don’t do that on the East side. We were going to go for two if it came down to it. We ran the best play we had left, and the (West) played it really well.”
The West struck first when a 23-yard pass from Schartz to Hesston’s Jake Proctor set up a 1-yard TD run from Salina Central’s Kenyon McMillan with 3;36 left in the first quarter.
Lind, who represented Hays High along with teammate Bryce Salmans, set up the West’’s second TD after picking off a pass from his linebacker spot and returning it 24 yards to the East 20. Schartz hit Circle’s Ty Smith over the middle for a touchdown on the next play.
Marx, who won a fourth straight 3A state championship with Andale last year, helped create Lind’s pick.
“I saw where the ball was going, and (Marx) was right in the lane, perfectly," Lind said. “It just bounced off his chest and I was right there and took off.”
“That’s what he did (at Hays High),” Crough said of Lind. “He had three touchdowns this year. He’s just kind of a ball magnet. Evan got picked up (for the Shrine Bowl) a month ago. We felt like at Hays High we had five or six guys that were capable of playing in this game, and Evan was one of them. He got his opportunity and took advantage of it.”
The East scored late in the second quarter on a 11-yard pass from Hurla to Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Malik O’Atis but didn’t convert the PAT. The West led 14-6 at halftime.
Rice came up with a huge play in the third quarter, picking off a pass at midfield and returning it 46 yards to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Schartz.
“He’s going to be a really good college linebacker,” Crough said of Rice. “He’s what a lot of those linebackers are now – ex-running backs. He’s quick, he’s athletic, he can tackle.”
The East dominated the fourth quarter. Hurla found Girard’s Luke Niggemann for a 4-yard touchdown pass and the East tacked on the two-point try on a pass from Axtell’s Isaac Detweiler to Troy’s Jerrit Norris to make it 21-14 with 8:51 left.
After a defensive stop, the East marched 59 yards and punched it on Butler’s plunge before missing the two-point try.
The East outgained the West 281-181 but were hurt by three turnovers.
“We were moving the ball quite a bit throughout the game,” Rider said. “We gave them some short fields, and missed a red zone opportunity – those two things hurt.
“Our kids just battled. Keller (Hurla) came in at quarterback, and, gosh, he’s just a competitor and played a great game. We just came up a little bit short but our guys are fighters and they’re great men of character.”
Hurla finished 9 of 11 for 103 yards through the air with two touchdowns and rushed for 48 yards on 14 carries.
Crough said it was a week he’ll cherish.
“Hays is just such a special place,” said Crough, a Garden City native who is entering his sixth season as Hays High coach. “A lot of people don’t know about it, especially when you get past Salina and Manhattan. We felt like we could put our best foot forward and show what a great community and great facility we have. It was a great crowd here.
“For me, playing in the Shrine Bowl and having a camp here and coaching in the game here, it’s just kind of full circle. It was real special for me and for this community.”
Sanders on hand for Hall of Fame induction
NFL legend Barry Sanders was in attendance for his induction into the Kansas Shrine Bowl Hall of Fame along with his high school coach at Wichita North, Dale Burkholder.
Sanders and Burkholder were recognized in a pregame ceremony.
Sanders, who played in the 1986 Shrine Bowl, won the Heisman trophy at Oklahoma State before establishing himself as one of the greatest running backs of all-time in a 10-year career for the Detroit Lions. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
“I really cherished being a Shrine Bowl participant,” Sanders told the crowd. “I watched the game growing up and I feel like I was really fortunate to be picked to play in the game. This is such a fantastic atmosphere. I can’t believe it’s been so many years since I participated in it.
“I look back with such fond, fond memories of being able to participate in it. It’s been a tremendous day and I’ll remember this forever.”
Kansas Shrine Bowl Announces 2024 Game Site
Kansas’ premiere all-star event returns to Emporia
Just weeks ahead of their 50th event in Hays, the Kansas Shrine Bowl Board of Directors is excited to announce the return of the Kansas Shrine Bowl to Emporia in 2024. The 51st Kansas Shrine Bowl presented by Mammoth will be held Saturday, June 29th, 2024, at Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State University. “Emporia State’s Welch Stadium will be a great backdrop for our game, with a true all-star environment,” said B.J. Harris, Executive Director of the Kansas Shrine Bowl. “We’re thrilled to welcome the Kansas Shrine Bowl back to Emporia for the first time since 2016,” said LeLan Dains, Director of Visit Emporia. “It provides a great opportunity to host students and athletes in our community and we hope they’ll take full advantage of all Emporia has to offer.”
“Emporia has always been a great host city for the Kansas Shrine Bowl,” said Harris. “We’ve had successful events each time we’ve returned, and we’re excited about what 2024 has in store!”
The Kansas Shrine Bowl is awarded following a competitive bid process which includes communities across Kansas. Since 1974, the Kansas Shrine Bowl has been played in Lawrence, Manhattan, Wichita, Topeka, Hays, Emporia, Pittsburg, Dodge City, and Hutchinson.
In addition to the Kansas Shrine Bowl All-Star Football game and camp for eighty players, the Kansas Shrine Bowl event includes all-star band and cheer camps for more than two hundred respectively. Additional events include a golf tournament, banquet, parade, alumni reunion, tailgate party, and more.
The Kansas Shrine Bowl is an all-star high school senior, East vs. West, football game put on each year in Kansas, by the Kansas Shrine. It is a 501(c) 3 non-profit charity that produces annual events and related activities, with net proceeds benefiting Shriners Hospitals for Children, now known as Shriners Children’s. The Kansas Shrine Bowl has donated over $3.7M to Shriners Children’s.
Beginning in 1974, the flagship event has been the East/West All-Star Football Game. As of 2022, the West leads the series with 30 wins, the East has 17 wins, and there have been two ties. Recent NFL alumni include Cody Whitehair (Chicago Bears). Additional notable alumni include former All-Pro Wide Receiver Jordy Nelson, former All-Pro NFL Defensive Back Terrance Newman, NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, former Kansas State and Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Gary Spani, former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl Champion Linebacker Mark Simoneau and many others.
Learn more about the upcoming 50th Kansas Shrine Bowl, Saturday, July 15th, 2023, in Hays, Kansas at www.KansasShrineBowl.com.
For more information contact B.J. Harris, Executive Director, at director@kansasshrinebowl.com or (913) 602-8656.
“Emporia has always been a great host city for the Kansas Shrine Bowl,” said Harris. “We’ve had successful events each time we’ve returned, and we’re excited about what 2024 has in store!”
The Kansas Shrine Bowl is awarded following a competitive bid process which includes communities across Kansas. Since 1974, the Kansas Shrine Bowl has been played in Lawrence, Manhattan, Wichita, Topeka, Hays, Emporia, Pittsburg, Dodge City, and Hutchinson.
In addition to the Kansas Shrine Bowl All-Star Football game and camp for eighty players, the Kansas Shrine Bowl event includes all-star band and cheer camps for more than two hundred respectively. Additional events include a golf tournament, banquet, parade, alumni reunion, tailgate party, and more.
The Kansas Shrine Bowl is an all-star high school senior, East vs. West, football game put on each year in Kansas, by the Kansas Shrine. It is a 501(c) 3 non-profit charity that produces annual events and related activities, with net proceeds benefiting Shriners Hospitals for Children, now known as Shriners Children’s. The Kansas Shrine Bowl has donated over $3.7M to Shriners Children’s.
Beginning in 1974, the flagship event has been the East/West All-Star Football Game. As of 2022, the West leads the series with 30 wins, the East has 17 wins, and there have been two ties. Recent NFL alumni include Cody Whitehair (Chicago Bears). Additional notable alumni include former All-Pro Wide Receiver Jordy Nelson, former All-Pro NFL Defensive Back Terrance Newman, NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, former Kansas State and Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Gary Spani, former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl Champion Linebacker Mark Simoneau and many others.
Learn more about the upcoming 50th Kansas Shrine Bowl, Saturday, July 15th, 2023, in Hays, Kansas at www.KansasShrineBowl.com.
For more information contact B.J. Harris, Executive Director, at director@kansasshrinebowl.com or (913) 602-8656.