This years game will be the 50th Anniversary of the annual game pitting senior football players from New York and Pennsylvania and will square off against each other on Aug. 5 at Bradford High School.

This will be Penley’s third time coaching this game and he is excited about the opportunity to coach this year’s team “the opportunity to coach in the Big 30 game is such a cool honor. To be able to work with young men from different schools with an opportunity to raise money for those in need just makes it that much more special.”

The monies raised in the Big 30 game goes towards individuals in need and charitable organizations in the Pennsylvania counties of McKean, Potter, Cameron, Elk and Warren and the New York counties of Allegheny, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua.

Penley has a unique perspective on the game as he played in it in 1995 and coached in it in 2006 and 2014.

Eisenhower’s Jim Penley will serve as the head coach of the Pennsylvania team for the 2023 Big 30 All-Star Game at Bradford High School on Aug. 5. Times Observer File Photo

“For most of these young men playing it will be their final opportunity to put the pads on and represent their school so as a coach you not only want to have fun but you want to get one more win,” Penley added. “So being involved with this game gives me a full range of experiences about what this game means to so many people that are involved with it.”

Something that may make his job a little easier is that he has chosen some members of his staff to serve as assistant coaches in the game and he is hoping he will have the opportunity to coach a few of his players from his own record breaking team a year ago “obviously getting the chance to coach some of my players one last time who have really been important to me and the program’s success the last few years would be really cool. I think it will be for the entire staff as we have a couple of dads who could be coaching their sons one last time.”

Penley has led the PA team to victory in 2006 by a 40-20 margin, while the New York All-Stars beat the Pennsylvania squad 37-24 in 2014.