GEFA Announces Alternate To All-Star Game
August 20, 2024 GEFA Staff
The Great Eastern Football Association announced today that due to lack of participation from their All-Stars they will be doing away with the game.
Instead of the All-Star game that has been played for nineteen years they will do the Always Forward Charity Bowl to raise money for the Nicklas and Marrero families respectfully.
"The participation for the All-Star game has steadily been on the decline since COVID," said James Simerson. "We tried doing jerseys, skill competitions, we did the GEFA Games this past season and yet we were still pulling players who didn't earn the All-Star designation to play in the actual All-Star game because players didn't feel it was important to play in the game."
The All-Star game has been a staple for the Great Eastern Football Association pitting the best of the best against one another. In the thirteen games that the Valley All-Stars faced the Mountain All-Stars it has been overwhelmingly one side in favor of the Valley, 9-4 even though the Mountain Conference has won 3 out of the last 4 games including this past season. There were two seasons, 2018 and 2019, where the league did fantasy drafts, mixing the conferences and having them captained by Hall of Famers.
"I felt like we exhausted every avenue we possibly could to keep the All-Star game alive. So instead of doing the All-Star game we'll have a lighthearted charity game where we will bring back Aaron Nicklas' wife, Lacy, and Rob Marrero's wife, Carrie, back as honorary Captains and we'll see what teams raise more money. We'll sell Team Nicklas (blue) and Team Marrero (purple) shirts with the proceeds going towards the families. I think that's our best bet right now."
In the league's twenty year history there has only been one season where there wasn't an All-Star game. That was back in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic.
"I know there are a couple people who really looked forward to the All-Star game, not because of the game itself but because of the relationships you form playing with players you normally play against. That's why we aren't doing away with a game all together. We'll have two captains from both sides along with Carrie and Lacy and we'll do a fantasy draft for the teams."
The Always Forward Charity Bowl will take place the week after Keystone Bowl XXII. The location of this game has yet to be revealed. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.
