The good fight
Danielle Senn
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
EACH YEAR, the Shrine Bowl selects the top all-star senior high school football players to come participate in a game that will change the lives of children all over the country. Besides just the actual game, the players and coaches get the opportunity to know each other for one full week before they travel to the hospital in St. Louis.
Early Saturday, July 19, 2008, many outstanding young men, coaches and sponsors took off on a flight to visit a place of inspiration and dedication. The flight left from Kansas City International Airport and flew to St. Louis, Mo., to visit the Shriner’s Hospital and St. Louis Rams training facility. This was an amazing opportunity for all those participating.
Upon arriving in St. Louis the group’s first stop was the Russell Training Center for the St. Louis Rams. There the group received a tour by Bob Hanson and Evan Ardoin, Public Relations representatives for the St. Louis Rams; Evan later joined us at the Hospital with Rams player Brandon Williams. While there, we got to see the press facilities, the outside and inside training fields and the player locker rooms. The most impressive facility was their state-of-the-art inside training field that can be monitored and adjusted to match the conditions the team will be facing on their next game day.
The next few hours were the most rewarding time of the day--the time we spent at the Shriner’s Hospital. Our presenter and guide was Susan Bland, who was a patient for eighteen years before coming to work at the hospital after college graduation. She was an inspiration to everyone in the room and prepared all the players and coaches on how to approach the children they would be meeting. After a short video over David Grassi, a previous patient and amazing young man and athlete, there was a presentation to go over the hospital and the devices used in the treatment of the patients.
On average, the Shriners raise $800 million a year to keep the twenty-two hospitals running. The Shriner’s Hospitals are free to all those who use them, including transportation costs. The new trend of more outpatient surgeries has affected the Shriner’s Hospital as well, accounting for the majority of their patients. Ninety percent of all the funds raised by the Shrine Bowl go to the Shriner’s Hospitals.
Watching the faces of the young men, coaches and the kids light up when they saw each other and played games, signed autographs and took pictures was a breathtaking moment. The connections made were unforgettable for all the players and the patients. Along with socializing with the children, the players took tours of the hospital; the hallways are full of hand painted murals that were donated. Everywhere one turns in the hospital is full of happiness and children’s laughter. After leaving the hospital I watched several young men pull out the material given to them by the hospital and begin reading. I listened to their conversations and the majority felt this trip gave them purpose to play.
This day was a day that will live on in the memory of all those who attended. It gave young men, their coaches and sponsors alike a reason to continue helping others in the community. This year’s all star players now know who and what their long practices and time will benefit. The lessons learned that Saturday will hopefully continue on to the community of Emporia, this year’s sponsor city, and the rest of this great nation to help those in need without worry of compensation for those acts. On Saturday, July 26, 2008, those young men stepped onto a field to fight to win; every day thousands of children fight for their lives at the 22 Shriner’s Hospitals and all of us must fight to help and treat others with kindness and respect no matter what our physical abilities are.
F Danielle Senn accompanied the Shrine Bowl teams to the Shriners’ Hospital.