The Big 33 Football Classic is an all-star

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

game featuring the top high-school football players in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Played since

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

, the game is often described as the "

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

of High School Football." Contests currently pit players from Pennsylvania against players from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, but opponents in the past have also included players from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Recent games have been held at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania. While the game was originally played with the best 33 players in each state (hence its name), the organizers added a 34th player to give kickers a chance to be separate of the 33 count as to give one more non-kicker a chance to be named to the Big 33. Thus, there are 34 players from each state who are invited to play in this game on the original roster. If there are players that are selected are unable to play, the staff of the team and the Big 33 will select other players to fill their places on the roster. In 2006 the game was moved from mid-late July to mid-late June due to the NCAA rule changes that made some coaches prohibit many players from these teams from playing in the game due to the closeness of the upcoming summer practices. In October 2012 it was announced that Pennsylvania had dropped Ohio from the BIG 33 game and replaced them with Maryland.

Game-related activities

A wide variety of activities take place on the weekend of the game, typically in June or July. These activities include

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

exhibitions, scholarship presentations, youth clinics, and visits by the players to local hospitals, the Boys & Girls Club and other

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

. Over $2 million in academic

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

s have been awarded as a result of the game and its sponsors. Each team has its own host families who host a player. The Ohio players arrive in Hershey and meet their host families Friday night (one week and a day before the game) and the Pennsylvania players arrive in Hershey and meet their host families on Saturday at the kickoff picnic that includes the host families and cheerleaders. The players visit hospitals and receive a "Buddy". Many of the players keep ties with their host families while in college and throughout their careers and the event is a very family-like event.

Notable alumni

References

External links

Big 33
website {{HS All-Star Games High school football games in the United States High school football in Ohio High school sports in Pennsylvania American football in Ohio American football in Pennsylvania Hershey, Pennsylvania Recurring sporting events established in 1957

Game-related activities

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links