4 from City League in Shoe Bowl

6/28/2007

Four of the six teams competing in this year's BCSN/Old Newsboys Shoe Bowl Football Classic on Aug. 17 at the Glass Bowl will be from the City League.

Start, Waite, Scott and St. John's Jesuit are scheduled to play in the latest edition of the Shoe Bowl, which initially was established in 1942. Anthony Wayne and Bedford are also set to play in the event started by the Old Newsboys Goodfellow Association.

Start faces Waite, Bedford takes on Scott, and Anthony Wayne meets St. John's in exhibition games consisting of two 15-minute quarters. Play will begin at 5 p.m.

"The Shoe Bowl, along with our annual high school football player of the year award, is a great opportunity for us to generate awareness for our organization," said Jay Gast, co-chairman of this year's event. "We all know this community loves high school football and our sponsorship of these types of activities allows us to get the message out about our charity relief efforts and our need for new members."

Admission is free, but contributions will be accepted.

"We phased out of the Shoe Bowl in the early 1990s due to changes in how high school football games are sanctioned, but last year we brought it back and it was a great success," said Gast, a former basketball player at the University of Toledo who now serves as a Toledo Police detective as well as an Old Newsboys volunteer.

"We had almost 4,500 people come out for the event and BCSN broadcast the game live. Based on last year's experience, we believe the Shoe Bowl Football Classic is a unique and vital venue for our members to use in getting our message out to the community."

The Old Newsboys Goodfellow Association, celebrating more than 75 years of serving those in need in northwestern Ohio, is a 100 percent charity organization of more than 600 active and life members, devoted to helping needy children since 1929. The men and women of the Old Newsboys come from all walks of life, including business, industry, the professions, government and public services. Their common bond is compassion for children suffering under poverty or neglect.

This year's Shoe Bowl Football Classic is presented by Columbia Gas.