Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, Inc

P.O. Box 820

Lebanon, NH 03766

(603) 448-1042

To:       All press, radio and TV

For release: Monday, January 7

            Lebanon, NH – There are seven months before strong legs run so that weak legs may walk but already the head coaches for the 55th Annual Shrine Maple Sugar are hard at work. This year's summer classic will be played on Dartmouth College’s Memorial Field on Saturday, August 2.

            The Head Coach for Vermont will be Mike Law of East Montpelier’s U-32 High School and the Head Coach for New Hampshire, Craig Kozens of Laconia. For both men, it will be their first time on the sideline for a Shrine Bowl game.

            In announcing the coaches for the 55th Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, General Chairman of the 2008 Game Edward DeGoosh said, "We feel fortunate to have two such fine coaches, who are willing to give of their time and talent for the Game and for the Shrine cause. We know they will put together two outstanding teams and give us a great game."

Kozens played high school football at Falmouth High in Massachusetts and college football at Westfield State College. Following graduation from Westfield, he was an assistant coach at New Hampton Prep and in 1996 was named head coach. In five years at New Hampton his teams compiled a record of 29-6, winning two New England Prep School Championships.

In 2001, Kozens became head coach at Laconia and in seven years he has put together a record of 49-21. This past fall they won the Division IV title and Kozens was named Coach of the Year.

            Law graduated from Montpelier High School and played college football at the University of Vermont. In 1976 he became an assistant coach at Barre’s Spaulding High School and in 1981 he began a nine year stint as the school’s head coach.

            In 1994 he was named head coach at U-32 and in 13 years he has compiled a winning record of 82-35 which includes four state titles.

Over 200 football players from Vermont and New Hampshire, all graduating high school seniors, have been nominated by their respective head coaches and in the next few weeks selection committees, chaired by the two head coaches, will select the two 36-man teams. The two teams will be announced in late February.

            New Hampshire leads the Shrine Bowl series 39-13-2, following a 23-20 win this past August. Formal training for the 2008 Shrine Bowl begins July 23 when both teams gather at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH for nine days of practice.

            The Shrine Game has raised over 4.5 million for the Shrine Hospitals in 54 years. The hospitals benefiting from the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl include the Shrine Children’s Hospitals in Springfield, Mass. and Montreal, Que. and the Shrine Burns Institute in Boston.

            The game is sponsored by Bektash Shrine Center of Concord, Cairo Shrine Center of Rutland and Mt. Sinai Center of Montpelier.