Sciacca, Burnett named Shrine coaches
Kennett High School's Ken Sciacca and Essex High School's Charlie Burnett will serve as head coaches for the 57th Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl.
The game will be played Aug. 7 at Windsor (Vt.) High School.
It will be Sciacca's eighth time on the sideline for a Shrine Game and the third time he has served as New Hampshire's head coach. He was also the head coach in 1979 and 2003.
" I have just retired from football and I wanted to coach one more game, this game, for many reasons," Sciacca said. "First, it's a great cause, and second, I will get a chance to coach once more with a lot of old friends. It's always a great event and I look forward to it."
Sciacca has 38 years of coaching experience, first as an assistant coach at UMass-Lowell and then 34 years on the high school level, including 19 as a head coach at four different schools. His overall coaching record is 113-66-2. He is a graduate of Northeastern University, where he played four years of football and was captain of the 1960 team.
Burnett led Essex to an 11-0 record last fall. Essex won the Division I state title for the first time since 1992.
Burnett brings 15 years of coaching experience to the game, including one year as head coach at Champlain Valley and the last two at Essex. He has also served as an assistant coach at CVU, Essex and Burlington High Schools.
Burnett graduated from Montpelier High School, where he played under the legendary Ron Ceppetelli.
"I am humbled to be selected by the Vermont coaching fraternity and the Shrine organization to represent the state of Vermont in coaching the 2010 Shrine team," Burness said. "It is an honor and a privilege to be able to serve such a noble cause of raising money for the Shriner's Childrens Hospitals."
Over 200 players from Vermont and New Hampshire, all graduating high school seniors, have been nominated by their respective head coaches. Screening committees, chaired by the two head coaches, will select the two 36-man teams, which are expected to be announced in late January.
The Shrine teams will both practice at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden.
The Shrine Game has raised over 4.5 million for the Shrine Hospitals in 56 years. The hospitals benefiting from the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl include the Shrine Children's Hospitals in Springfield, Mass. and Montreal, Que. and the Shrine Burns Institute in Boston.
