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GHFCA BAYOU BOWL

The Bayou Bowl, with a successful 16 year history, is an All-Star Football Game featuring 36 of the best from the Greater Houston Area against 36 of the best from the State of Louisiana. After the 2013 contest, won by Texas, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association and the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association mutually agreed to end the series. As a result of this decision, the GHFCA Board of Directors, wanting to continue with an All-Star Football Game for the players in the Greater Houston Area, adopted the following format.

We divided the city into an East-West alignment using I-45 as the dividing line. The U.I.L. High School districts were used to determine the direction of the member schools. The 2014 game was played in Sugarland, a West side venue, the 1st game played using the new format. It featured 72 players from the Greater Houston Area, 36 per squad, from 72 different member schools. The game was broadcast live on KTRK-TV, ABC, Channel 13, with Bob Slovak, sports director of KTRK-TV, handling the play by play. The 2015 game returned to the East side of Houston and Stallworth Stadium, Baytown. The 2016 game was played at Rhodes Stadium with the City of Katy serving as the 2016 Bayou Bowl Host. The 2017 game was played at Turner Stadium, Humble ISD, Humble, TX. The Kingwood Mustang marching band performed as well as the National Champion Dance Team, the Fillies.

 

The 2018 game once again returned to Baytown’s Stallworth Stadium, the original site for the 1st Bayou Bowl Game played in 2003. This was the most exciting game to date with a defensive stop on a 2 point play giving the East a 37-36 victory. The game was played in front of 7,346 fans that remained in their seats until the final 2 point pass attempt was broken up by the East Defense preserving the win. The 2019 game will be played at Clear Creek ISD.CCID was gracious enough to share their new facility, Challenger, with the GHFCA and the Bayou Bowl. Challenger Stadium will be featured in the 2019 game, televised live on KTRK-TV, ABC, on Saturday June 8, with a 7:00 PM kickoff. The coaches for the East will be Zach Head, Head Coach at Clear Falls, and Larry McRae, Head Coach at Clear Lake.

The game is sponsored by the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association (GHFCA), a 501(c) (3) organization, with the proceeds going to scholarships for athletes, male and female, in the Greater Houston Area. Awards range from $1500-$2500 per recipient. We presented 15 scholarships in 2014, 17 in 2015, 16 in 2016, 19 in 2017, and 16 at our 2018 awards banquet at the University of Houston on Sunday, May 6th, at TDECU Stadium. The 2018 game provided $40,000 for the scholarship fund, the largest contribution to date. Scholarships will be presented at TDECU Stadium on Sunday, May 5th , 2019. Every athlete that applies for a scholarship receives a scholarship.

 

Prior to the Bayou Bowl, only 2 or 3 $500 scholarships were awarded. The funds generated from the Bayou Bowl Game has allowed the GHFCA to offer monetary assistance to athletes in the Greater Houston Area.

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