Mindy Balk of West Union looked on and watched from the sidelines as her son, Gary, practiced for Saturday’s Iowa Shrine Bowl with his north squad teammates.

“It’s going to be a fun week for everyone,” Mindy said. “They really treat the kids well and schedule a lot of things for them to do this week. I cannot wait for the game.”

Sure, it was warm outside — due to Ames facing one of the nastiest weekends of heat — but that did not stop Mindy and many other families from attending the special family practice Sunday.

Bob and Bev Carolan of Dubuque were also on hand to watch their son, Nick, practice.

“It’s a great honor,” Bob said. “Of all the kids that are playing football in the state of Iowa, to have a son be picked to help such a great cause is a wonderful thing.”

The cause he was talking about was, in fact, the charity the Shrine Bowl gives to.

Every year, the Shrine Bowl brings in thousands of dollars through advertising, ticket and merchandising sales for the Shriners Hospital for Children.

It is because of this charity most Iowans could tell you what the Shrine Bowl was, even if they had never attended the event.

“I guess prior to Nick being selected, we never really thought about the game,” Bev said. “We heard of it obviously, we knew about it, but had never attended the game before. But after hearing about what they do for the kids, we’re very happy to see Nick be a part of it.”

Looking past the game and knowing how great of an honor being selected is for the players, the families are also flattered to know one of their own are representing the best of Iowa.

For Mindy, the day her son was selected was a happy day not for just him but for her as well.

“When [Gary] got the letter inviting him to come play in the Shrine Bowl, I think it was the first time he was speechless,” Mindy said. “We didn’t know this kind of thing existed, but we were just as happy as he was, believe me.”

And while the experience of participating in the Shrine Bowl has given the players a hectic schedule of things to do, some interesting story lines have begun as well.

Throughout the week, the players stay with assigned roommates. Gary was assigned to stay with Fort Dodge lineman and soon to be college football opponent Alex Herrington.

“Gary’s roommate, Alex is actually going to Northwestern University after high school,” Mindy said. “It was kind of funny because Gary is heading to Buena Vista University to play football there. So these two roommates and teammates for the Shrine Bowl will be playing against each other in college because both schools are schedule against one another for a game in October.”

So after the game is over and this week has gone by, the players will all return to their hometowns and prepare for what is next: For some it will be college football, while for others it may be a different path.

But no matter what happens after, each player will always hold the distinction of putting on the pads during that warm summer night in Ames and playing in the 38th annual Iowa Shrine Bowl.