The formation of the Life Champion Senior Bowl came at a fortuitous time for many high school seniors who recently completed their final season of prep football.

With the unforeseen shutout (at least, for this year anyway) of the long-standing Hawaii Union Builders Goodwill Game, seniors on Oahu were left without an opportunity to strap up the shoulder pads one final time before moving on to college, but that's just where Keala Pule and the Hawaii Football Club come in.

Pule, executive director of the Hilo-based HFC, came up with the idea of a game as a means to showcase the Big Island's senior football players, much like the HUB game did for Oahu players for many years. However, the rosters were soon expanded to include players from all islands and leagues following the news of the HUB game's demise.

"A week after we opened it up to other neighbor island kids the HUB game was canceled, so we opened it up to Oahu for those seniors to get one last week," Pule said.

The hope is create an avenue for exposure to college coaches for players that might not receive many looks otherwise.

"We have a lot of great athletes across the state that face the same type of challenges that we do on the Big Island, so I hope this creates an opportunity for them and pushes them to keep working hard toward what they want and in the end, I'm really hoping this game will have an impact on our community and they'll support and back our kids, but to know what kind of success this will be, I believe it will take a few years to find out," Pule said.

Among the dozens lending their services this week are renown personal trainer Chad Ikei and recruiting guru, Doris Sullivan, of the Pacific Islands Athletic Alliance.

"I think this is a great opportunity for the kids because they're getting live one-on-one coaching with college-level coaches this week and they're also going to get great nationwide exposure," Sullivan said, alluding to the live video stream that will be available through ScoringLive.com. "Some kids don't have any (scholarship) offers and some do, but they'll all have the opportunity to show what they're capable of doing and get offered. We provide the coaches with everything they need to know about the players — their SAT scores, their GPA, their contact information — and it's perfect timing because the (Football Championship Subdivision) schools, the Division II schools, the D3 schools, NAIA schools, they're only starting to recruit right now, so I know they're excited about being able to watch the game."

For Pule, his wife Celeste and their three children, it is a burden of love to be sure, but one that he is enjoying for the time being.

"My kids have been part of this journey for the past four years," Pule said. "They give up their time for clinics that we do every summer on the Big Island and it's a lot of work, but I said all along that this has got to be about more than just the sport of football. We're trying to equip these kids will the tools they need to be successful beyond high school and beyond their football days, so hopefully the community will support our schools and our kids and this can become something can help them along the way."

For more information about HFC or the Life Champion Senior Bowl, visit hfchilo.com.