Montana Shriners select football standouts for 'best of best' game
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A guy wearing a funny red hat steps to the podium and introduces a local football standout who will be representing his school and area in an east-west statewide clash of the ‘best of the best.’ The scene is repeated across Montana this time of year as local Shrine clubs announce football players, from their area, who will be playing in the East-West Shrine game. Described as “the premier all-star game in Montana,” this year’s game will mark the 70th edition of the annual summer event.
It’s a win-win situation. The players have one more opportunity to showcase their football prowess, and the kids needing medical attention will benefit from the generosity of the Shriners who support 22 hospitals across the country. Nationwide Shriners support their medical facilities at a cost of one million dollars a day and children receive treatment regardless of their ability to pay.
The three Shriner Temples from Montana: Algeria in Helena; Bagdad in Butte and Al Bedoo in Billings, work together to organize this amazing event to support the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Spokane. All told, the Montana game has raised more than $1,000,000 for the Spokane Shriners Hospital. In 2013 the Montana Shrine Game raised $146,000, the top donation from a Shrine football game in the United States to date.
Several Shriner organizations hold statewide games as fundraisers in addition to the national East-West Shrine game, which is hosted by a different part of the country each year. Montana’s east-west game is one of the longest running, continuous all-star football games in the country.
But it’s not just about football. There are several golf tournaments, around the state, leading up to the big game. Selected cheerleaders, from high schools around the state, also are honored at several pre-game regional functions, march in the pre-game parade and cheer at the game.
This year’s Montana East-West game will be held on Saturday, July 16, 7pm at Alumni Coliseum on the Montana Tech campus in Butte. Find more information about the game and related activities by going to http://www.montanaeastwestshrinegame.org.
All four athletes had stellar athletic careers throughout their four years of high school, excelling at several sports.
Young and McIntosh starred for the Sugarbeeters on the football field reaching the pinnacle of the Class C Eight-man football ranks this past fall by helping Chinook capture the schools second state championship.
Young was also a standout wrestler, while McIntosh starred on the basketball course and the links.
Young and McIntosh plan to further their athletic careers at the next level. Young will play college football at North Dakota State College of Science. McIntosh will play at Presentation College in South Dakota.
Warp and Rismon were both standout athletes for the Blue Pony athletic program. Rismon will continue to play football at the next level wearing the green and gold of the Montana Tech Orediggers. Warp however has chosen to play college basketball for the Carroll College Fighting Saints
