The following announcement was sent Monday morning from the Drake University athletic department:
A documentary highlighting the first ever American college football game on African soil featuring Drake University and the CONADEIP All-Stars from Mexico will air tonight on CBS Sports Network 7:00 PM ET.
The broadcast comes a week after the Drake University football program, whose players, coaches and staff participated in the life-changing event, celebrated winning a share of the 2011 Pioneer Football League Championship with a 7-1 mark.
A 37-14 home win over Dayton meant the Bulldogs claimed their fifth PFL title and first since the 2004 season and head coach CHRIS CREIGHTON paid tribute to the positive influence the game in Africa, the community service projects and the team effort to ascend to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro had on his team.
“Our trip to Tanzania had a major impact on our championship season,” said Creighton, whose team won its final four PFL contests and finished the campaign with an unblemished 4-0 home mark. “Last winter we adopted the theme ‘Tupande Kileleni’ – Swahili for ‘Let’s Climb to the Summit’ – and we have lived the theme this past year.
“We definitely became closer as a team as a result of our intense two weeks in Tanzania. We all grew as individuals and as a team as we were stretched in ways we had never before experienced. Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro became a blueprint for our climb of the Pioneer Football League. In preparing for the climb and then actually climbing the mountain we learned six ‘climbing realities’ that we constantly referenced and relied on throughout our climb of the league this fall. The whole year has been an incredible journey and we are definitely blessed.”
CBS Sports Network, which is seen in more than 44 million homes and available to 98 million households, will re-air the documentary highlighting the experiences of Drake and their Mexican counterparts at 7pm tonight. For the full network schedule and to access the CBS Sports Network Channel Finder, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.
In addition to witnessing the spectacle of American football being played before 20,000 curious spectators in Tanzania, the documentary showcases the service efforts of the student athletes working in orphanages, enjoying the amazing wildlife safaris on the TANAPA-managed national parks, and experiencing the climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro where 117 group members proudly hoisted the national flags of USA, Mexico and Tanzania.
Event organizer, Global Football President PATRICK STEENBERGE, said of the Drake success: “Some people were concerned that undertaking such a demanding visit to African might become a distraction, but Coach Creighton and I both believed from the beginning that this would serve to inspire his team. It is a credit to Coach and to his staff and players that they saw the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl as a means of inspiration that would give them an edge over opponents this season.”
The Kili Bowl event and one-hour documentary were produced by Global Football, with Steenberge as executive director, and Tim Brockman serving as director. Brockman has more than two decades of experience producing outdoor programs for various networks in the U.S. and overseas.
Since 1996 Global Football has created and produced American football games and events in 19 different nations around the world. When invited to do something spectacular in Tanzania, the challenge became a mission that resulted in an amazing sports, natural wonders, and public service event that changed the lives of each person involved, in many ways.
Global Football aims to stage a second Global Kilimanjaro Bowl in Tanzania in the summer of 2013 and is in the process of identifying teams from the United States and the international American football community to participate.
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