The second ever Idaho Bowl is coming to BYU-Idaho this weekend, featuring players from all over the Gem State.
The 2025 Idaho Bowl has selected the best 248 student-athletes from across 71 different Idaho Schools to play this weekend in a head-to-head matchup, with players ranging from 6th to 8th grades. Alex Gomez was one of those players selected to play wide receiver and safety.
Laif Morrison, an Idaho native and the executive director of the Idaho Bowl, says the games give students an opportunity to learn and prove themselves on the field.
“It’s really cool to bring all these kids together from different programs and watch them kind of develop and engage themselves against each other,” Morrison said. ”They might be the dude at their school but then they come here and it’s a roster full of 35 dudes. So, they get to evaluate, like man, maybe I'm not that good. Maybe I need to go back home and work a little bit harder or, or maybe I am the top dog.”
Morrison says he and his team worked tirelessly to pick the best of the best players, watching hours of film and highlights from nearly 1,000 nominations.
“Though we receive a thousand nominations, only a few are selected to play,” Morrison said. ”The nominations that come are especially from the coaches. They just nominate that they have 20 kids on their team. They nominate one or two best players. So, we really get a widespread the absolute best players from all the individual teams all across the state.”
Once players are selected, Morrison goes through hours of film again to create teams. While the process takes countless hours each day, Morrison is happy to give the kids an opportunity to play the game they live with people they never thought they would meet.
“Creating those relationships is the most important part to me,” Morrison said. “It's special. I mean that doesn't happen very often. You're going to get a kid from eastern Idaho hanging out with a kid from northern Idaho. Like that just doesn't exist. So, if we can create that, the relationships is where it's at.”
The games are scheduled for Saturday at the BYU-Idaho Stadium. The 6th grade game starts at 10:30 a.m. followed by 7th grade at 2 p.m. and 8th grade at 5:30 p.m. The games are free to attend, but donations are welcome. Morrison said the Idaho Bowl is a fundraising event for the Rondald McDonald House Charities. Attendees can bring an item to donate to the Ronald McDonald House, which will then distribute the items to families in need.