The Kent School will travel overseas to face Florida’s Community School of Naples as part of the Dublin High School Football Showcase in Ireland on Friday, August 28.
Formerly known as Donnybrook Stadium, Leinster Rugby’s Energia Park will host the Kent School-Community School of Naples game as well as the Fenwick High School (Chicago)-Notre Dame Prep (Arizona) contests.
“We look forward to again bringing student-athletes, their families and supporters to this first-class facility and welcoming local sports fans who have always come out in force to support the event,” said Global Football founder and president Patrick Steenberge. “This showcase is the perfect way to celebrate our 25th year of traveling the world.”
Players, coaches, cheerleaders and families will attend the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, which sees Navy take on the University of Notre Dame at the Aviva Stadium the following day.
Kent School has traveled overseas with Global Football twice previously, including a 2012 visit to Ireland when under then-head coach Todd Marble, they beat the National School of American Football from the UK 26-2 at Parnell Park, the north Dublin home of Gaelic football. Current Lions head coach Connor Wells said: “We are very excited for our match up against the Community School of Naples this August. A top-tier academic institution with an exceptional football tradition, quite similar to Kent School, the Community School is an ideal opponent for our game in Dublin. Our boys look forward to competing with full hearts on the field as we celebrate this incredible global experience with our friends from Florida.”
The participating teams will train at the athletic facilities of University College Dublin and will experience the local culture through a series of educational tours. Dublin will again be brought to a standstill when all teams and their cheerleaders join a city center parade on the Thursday evening before the games, which will culminate in an American-style Pep Rally in the heart of Dublin City.
Four-time Super Bowl winner and decorated U.S. Military veteran Rocky Bleier will serve as Honorary Chairman for the event. Bleier won a coveted college football national championship at Notre Dame in 1966 and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He won four Super Bowl titles as a member of one of the NFL’s most legendary teams, during a professional career from 1968 to 1980.
