BY MAX IRVINE
Eudora High School senior Sloan Hayden will play in the 46th annual Kansas Shrine Bowl. He’s the sixth Eudora football player in the past 18 years to be selected for this honor.
The Shrine Bowl gives Kansas high school seniors one last chance to play high school football in a match between the best players from eastern and western Kansas.
The game is named after Shriners Hospitals for Children and donates its profits from the game to 22 of the Shriner hospitals across the nation.
64 players state-wide are selected each year to play in the game. Hayden said he feels honored to be selected because his family has been a part of the organization for a long time.
“It means a lot. My sister was a Shrine kid, so this game means a lot to her and my parents. My grandpa was a Shriner, his foundation helped put the game on, so I think it’s really cool to be able to play in it,” Hayden said.
Hayden said this game carries more weight than most games and that he feels both nervous and blessed to be participating.
“One of our coaches participated in the Shrine Bowl and he told me this is a life-changing experience. I’m blessed to get the opportunity to play in this game,” he said.
A year ago, Hayden finished his junior season playing football for his high school in Ulysses. His older brother, Sean, coached the Eudora High School football team in his first season as head coach.
For Sloan’s last season, his parents gave him the opportunity of a lifetime.
“My parents first sat me down at the kitchen table one Sunday night and said “Hey here’s this opportunity to go live with your brother and play football under your older brother. We’ll give you a week to decide,” Sloan said.
He said it only took him a few days to decide he wanted to go to Eudora and play for his brother for his senior year.
After he graduates high school, Sloan committed to play football as a tight end at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.
Standing at six-foot-five-inches and 230 pounds, Sloan was an exciting prospect for many programs to recruit. His frame makes him a big target for quarterbacks, and it helps him block defensive linemen and linebackers.
He received offers from schools like South Dakota and Eastern Illinois and visited KU and K-State as options as well. He said he wanted to play somewhere near home that would be best for his development as a player.
“They’re really close, only three hours from here, eight hours from my parents. They have a really good coaching staff and they’re a legit program to go to,” he said.
Sean, who played college football at Dodge City Community College, gave his brother some advice about the realities of the college level.
“Number one, they’re always trying to replace you with someone better than you when they recruit. Don’t ever get complacent and always push yourself,” he said.
Sloan plans to study physical education at Missouri State. He said he is inspired to get into coaching by his older brother, who’s been coaching for about 10 years.
Sloan says he looks up to his older brother, seeing him as a father figure.
Even though he was on the Eudora football team for only one season, he leaves with many good memories for the time he spent with his teammates.
“For me, scoring a touchdown on senior night was really cool. Or seeing Octavius Lyles score his first touchdown as a freshman was really cool too,” he said.
The Kansas Shrine Bowl is at 7 p.m. on July 18 at Yager Stadium in Topeka.
Reach reporter Max Irvine at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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