Don Raabe Big 30 Charities Classic

The Don Raabe Big 30 Charities Classic is a high school football all-star game held in the Twin Tiers region of Western New York and northern Pennsylvania. The game is held annually each August at Parkway Field on the campus of Bradford Area High School in Bradford, Pennsylvania and is broadcast live on radio station WESB.

Each team consists of 43 players[1] from a 15 school-district area in each state (15+15 being the "30" indicated in the game's title). New York's team covers mostly Cattaraugus County, portions of Allegany County, and two small districts in southeastern Chautauqua County,[2] while Pennsylvania's team covers a five-county area including Warren, McKean, Cameron, Potter and Elk Counties. This area roughly, though not exactly, corresponds to the coverage area of the Olean Times Herald, the major newspaper serving the region. The players are mostly high school graduates; some go on to play college football but many do not. Unlike most high school football games in New York and Pennsylvania, most games have full fifteen-minute quarters; the standard for most high school games is twelve minutes.[3]

The small area from which to draw players and the small size of the schools involved mean that this game generally produces very few top prospects, and does not have the prestige of other high school football all-star games (such as the similarly named Big 33 Football Classic).

Through 2014, there have been 41 contests. As of 2012, New York led the series 20-17-2; the Empire State defeated the Keystone State by a 46-37 score in the 2010 game,[4] but mot recent matches had mostly been won by Pennsylvania, including a 27-0 shutout in 2008,[5] a 13-6 win by the Keystone State in 2009, where Pennsylvania held New York to zero completed passes,[6] and a 28-3 win in 2011 built primarily on two New York fumbles.[1][3] The 2012 game was won by New York.[7]

The Big 30 Charities Classic expanded to men's and women's basketball contests in 2015, with the inaugural contests held on March 15, 2015. WGWE broadcast the games, which were held at the high school in Portville, New York

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pollock, Chuck (August 8, 2011). All-Star Game A Shining Night For The Big 30. Olean Times Herald. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  2. ↑ Salamanca Running Back Picked For Big 30 Game. The Post-Journal. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Pa. dominates Big 30 Classic. Cameron County Endeavor News (2011-08-13). Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  4. ↑ Pennsylvania comes up short in Raabe Big 30 Charities Classic. Cameron County Endeavour News. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  5. ↑ Chase, Lori. "35th Don Raabe Big 30 Charities Classic: Pennsylvania 27, New York 0." Port Allegany Reporter Argus. August 7, 2008.
  6. ↑ Madigan, Jeff. Big 30 Classic. Salamanca Press. August 6, 2009.
  7. ↑ Benton, Larry (August 19, 2012). . Gowanda Pennysaver-News. Retrieved from an offline copy August 19, 2012.

External links