The Illinois Coaches Association and the Shriners of Illinois will host the 47th annual Illinois High School Shrine Game, on Saturday, June 19, 2021, at Tucci Stadium on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University. Kick-off is scheduled at 11:00a.m. Pregame festivities will begin at the stadium at 10:00 a.m.
One hundred six of the State’s best football players participate in this all-star game. The event raises money for Shriners Hospital for Children, the official philanthropy of Shriners International. More information about scheduled events and rosters for the Red and Blue teams, can be found at www.ilshrinegame.com. Admission for this All Star Game is $10 and can be purchased at the gate.
Three local young men will participate. Blue Team: Sterling’s Ryan Heffelfinger, Guard; Fulton’s Jakob North, Tackle; Red Team: Sterling’s Nick Simester, Tackle.
Each year at the Shrine Game, two patients from the Shiners Hospital for Children are chosen to be the Prince and Princess. The princess is Hadley Holmes from Marion, IL, who is a patient at the Shriners Hospital in St Louis, MO. The prince is Tim Bannon from Chicago, IL, who is a patient at the Shriners Hospital in Chicago. Youth royalty are honorary representatives from each hospital that will benefit from the money raised through the game.
We were not able to have last year’s event, but we still raised nearly $20,000. It went directly to providing outstanding medical care for children at the Shriners Hospitals for Children.
Our goal is to create a fun and exciting environment for the players, families, Shrine kids, and Shriners and to make this a signature event for the Shriners of Illinois. This year’s game will be aired live on Cities 92.9 which is a part of the Great Plains Media Group. The featured banquet speaker will be Michael Bates from Divernon, IL. Bates participated in this event in 2011 and played football at Illinois College.
The estimated direct economic impact of hosting the Illinois High School Shrine Game in Bloomington-Normal is $92,600.