History of the Game

The Kansas Shrine Bowl is a charity All-Star Football Game played between graduated high school seniors from Kansas high schools representing the eastern and the western sections of the state. The five Shrine Temples of Kansas sponsor the charity All-Star high school football game.

Players are chosen by Kansas sportswriters from the eastern and western sections of the state. The Head Coach for each squad is allowed to select 3 players of his own choosing.

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The selected players attend training camps at selected college sites for a 2-week period prior to the benefit game. Both squads fly to St. Louis over the first weekend of the camp to visit the Shrine Crippled Children’s Hospital, which is the recipient of the proceeds of the Kansas Shrine Bowl football game.

The first game was played on June 15, 1974 at the Kansas University Memorial Stadium in Lawrence with the East squad winning a thriller with the score of 16-14.