Area Shrine Bowl Participants Honored

Blake Van Veldhuizen – Oskaloosa, Rachel Freeborn – North Mahaska, Kyle Kilmer – BGM.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The annual Iowa Shrine Bowl will take place on July 21st, 2018 at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls.

On Wednesday night, the parents, siblings, Shriners, and others gathered at the American Legion in Oskaloosa to honor three area participants to this year’s game.

Kyle Kilmer from BGM, Rachel Freeborn from North Mahaska, along with Blake Van Veldhuizen of Oskaloosa are those area participants taking part in the Shrine Bowl.

The Iowa Shrine Bowl Game is an all-star football game between selected pre-college football athletes on each side of a north-south dividing line in Iowa.

The players are selected by a process of nomination by coaches, balloting by state-wide sports media professionals, and official invitation from a representative of the Iowa Shrine Bowl.

The Iowa Shrine Bowl produces this game each year. The game brings honor and recognition to the players, their schools and their communities. It has also been an effective tool in raising money for The Shriner’s Hospital For Children.

To date, the Iowa Shrine Bowl has raised over $2,600,000 for The Shriner’s Hospitals for Children. Funds for The Shriner’s Hospitals For Children are developed by ticket sales, advertising in the Shrine Bowl program, merchandise sales, contributions and sponsorships.

Being selected for the games south team, Van Veldhuizen said he’s “really excited to experience that, raise some money for the kids and the hospitals and try to help them out.”

The Indians standout will graduate in May, and will be playing football for Iowa Western Community College.