LEBANON —Plans for the 66rdAnnual Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl are well underway and the Board of Governors is pleased to announce the 2019 Head Coach for New Hampshire.
Coach Bill Raycraft of Windham High School has been selected to lead the New Hampshire All-Star Team for next year’s game. Coach Raycraft has been coaching high school football for the past 20 years and has led the Windham High School Jaguars since 2009 when the school opened and the program began.
He previously spent one year coaching at Salem High School. Prior to his stint at Salem, Raycraft coached at John Stark Regional High School where he started that program in 2001 and coached there until 2007.
In 2011, Windham was a NHIAA State Finalist and Raycraft was selected Coach of the Year after making the finals in just their second varsity season. Since starting the program, the team has gone 68-11 with three state championship appearances and seven consecutive playoff appearances.
This past season, Windham made the jump from Division II to Division I, finishing 6-3. In addition to coaching, Raycraft is Windham High School’s Athletic Administrator and Dean of the Human Performance and Wellness Department. He is married to Kat Raycraft residing in Derry, has a daughter, Johnna, who gave them their first grandchild, Aria, now four years old.
The summer classic brings together some of the finest high school football players from New Hampshire and Vermont where the real winners are the kids in the Shriners Hospitals for Children. The 2019 game will again be played at Castleton University in Castleton, Vt. Game date is Saturday, Aug. 3, the pageantry of the parade starting at 3 p.m, pregame starting at 5 p.m. and kickoff scheduled for 5:30.
With the announcement of the New Hampshire Head Coach, General Chairman Kristi Morris said, “We welcome Coach Raycraft to our Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl family for 2019. The Board of Governors appreciates his dedication to football and the selfless time and commitment that this position requires as preparation begins for next summer’s classic.”
Coach Raycraft is enthusiastic for being selected to lead the New Hampshire team into the 66thannual contest against Vermont and is a longtime fan and admirer of the Shrine organization and its cause.
He goes on to say, “Being given an opportunity to be part of a program like the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl game is such an incredible honor. Having gone to the game with my father, every year for as long as I can remember, I’ve always known how special and remarkable it is, but to know the work they do at the Shriners Hospitals and the hope and relief this sport and this game provides to so many is inspiring.”
Further, he states, “There is a tremendous history with the Shrine Bowl game, just ask anyone who has ever played in a Shrine Game and they’ll tell you it’s very different from any other game, not only are we displaying some of the best athletes in the state, but by coming together in this game, you see firsthand how we are also helping these kids and changing their lives.”
With eight and one-half months before game day, the purpose of the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl is fundraising for the world’s greatest philanthropy, that of supporting children in need at our Shrine hospitals. The game contributes to three hospitals in our region; Shriners Hospitals for Children in Springfield, MA and Montreal Quebec in Canada treating orthopaedic conditions and our world-renowned burns hospital in Boston. All services are provided regardless of the families’ ability to pay.
The orthopaedic hospitals include orthotics and prosthetics, neurodevelopmental pediatrics, rheumatology, rehabilitation and urology services; and specialized care for children with fractures, cleft lip and palate, and chest wall deformities. The Springfield hospital has recently added in-patient children’s rehabilitation and has a sports medicine department. The Shrine Game has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past 65-years for the support of Shriners Hospitals for Children and is sponsored by the Cairo Shriners of Rutland, VT and the Mt. Sinai Shriners of Montpelier, VT.
The Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl Board of Governors is extremely pleased to have Coach Raycraft on-board to lead the NH team. Please visit our website at www.shrinemaplesugarbowl.com. The selection of the Vermont Head coach is underway and will be announced in the near future.
Respectively submitted,
Kristi Morris
Kristi C. Morris
General Chairman
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