It's basically an exhibition game.
But the Michigan High School East-West All-Star game will fulfill a dream for the coaches and players that have been selected to participate.
The 29th annual All-Star game, sponsored by the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA), is set for 2 p.m. this Saturday at Michigan State University's Spartan Stadium.
The All-Star coaches are picked by the MHSFCA Board of Directors at their spring meeting.
“It's such a tremendous honor to be chosen by your peers as an All-Star coach,” said East coach Bob Saylor of Reese. “Then to have an opportunity to coach these fine young men who are the best athletes in our state is huge. I'm looking forward to a great week with these guys.”
The board and the all-star committee also selects the 44 players for each team from nominees submitted by high school coaches. All players are 2009 high school graduates.
“I've been able to work hard enough to prove I can play with the best 88 kids in the state,” said West offensive tackle Matt Collins of Mendon, who is headed to Western Michigan University. “I'm looking forward to seeing how I do against these kids."
“It means a lot to me. I've worked out hard the last four years,” said East linebacker Dan Sawicki of Clintondale, who is going to Toledo. “My family and friends will be here. It's a great experience. I want to prove I can play against the best in the state and have a fun experience as well.”
“It means the world to me. I always wanted to play in this game since I was a little kid and all the high school kids I knew played in it,” said East offensive tackle Charles Chapman of Carleton Airport, who will be playing Big Ten football at Indiana. “I want to play well and hopefully not get injured. I'd love to see the East team win this year.”
The East has won two of the last three games and has a 15-13 lead in the series.
“For me to play in this game is the utmost honor. It's knowing so much has gone into this,” Western Michigan signee David Box of Milan said. “To be part of such a great tradition is an honor.”
The West coach, former Michigan State football player Randy Lark of Alma, has his son Kyle Lark on the All-Star team prior to embarking on his career at Western Michigan University.
“It's an honor to have played here (with MSU) and to be back at my old stomping grounds,” Lark said. “And then to have your son play is special. You get to watch him and coach right with him. I've been doing that all my career with both my boys.”
The UAW International Union and General Motors are sponsors for the event.
Larry Mex is executive director of the MHSFCA and recalls the early days of getting the All-Star football game off the ground.
“It was a struggle getting it in,” he said, noting that financing and approval from the NCAA were the two main challenges. “We do an All-Star program and get ads from communities. We have a gentleman from Lansing who generates large corporate sponsorships. UAW/GM has been with us quite awhile.
“We started out with 36 players and now have 44. The game has changed. There's a lot more throwing. It's a lot more open. We try to keep it interesting. We've had some low-scoring games which fans don't generally get excited about. We're trying to fix that.”
Players aren't allowed to rush punters or place kickers.
“Another change is a lot of schools are having their kids on campus for summer school early,” Mex said. “So we're moving the game and trying to get ahead of that which is why we're early this year. We'd like to go even earlier a couple of weeks after school is out.
“Michigan State and Michigan have their camps so they wouldn't have their dorm rooms available. So we're looking at ways to get around that.”
Most of the 88 players are college recruits.
“A lot of the Division I schools, we don't have a lot of those kids because they're on campus already,” Mex said.
Attendance for the game has annually been around 8,000 to 9,000. The game also generates money for the MHSFCA scholarship fund.
“Michigan State has been a great location, especially since (head football coach) Mark Dantonio has been here,” Mex said. “Our relations with them and the dorm people have been great. And the facilities are great.”
“I've seen great players from our school play in this game,” said East defensive back Robert Strong of Sterling Heights Stevenson, who will be playing at Dayton. “I grew up watching these people play. To have the same opportunity is a great honor.”