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Calgary high-school graduates, linebackers and Calgary Dinos recruits Charles Beach and Cole MacInnis have earned invites to the Montana East West Shrine Game.
Published Jun 18, 2026 • Last updated 0 minutes ago • 4 minute read
2026 Montana East West Shrine Game
Linebackers Charles Beach, left, and Cole MacInnis have been chosen to represent Calgary in the 2026 Montana East West Shrine Game. Photo by Todd Saelhof /Postmedia
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Homegrown talent has always been a hallmark of the Calgary Dinos football huddle.
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Cue two new recruits from the area that are gaining international recognition on the gridiron.
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Yes … high-school graduates Charles Beach and Cole MacInnis are set to make names for themselves state-side in the 2026 Montana East West Shrine Game before taking their skills to the Dinos and the U SPORTS field for the coming pigskin campaigns.
“Strong, smart, fast, well-trained and both from good families with great academic profiles,” said Dinos head coach Ryan Sheahan, of 18-year-old linebackers Beach and MacInnis. “You’ve got to love good people that love to work hard.
“And they’re also winners,” continued Sheahan. “I’ve seen them play in championship games in the city, province-wide, country-wide. So I think we’re getting arguably two of the better players in the country this year and of this year’s recruits.”
They’ve been seen by football forces outside the country as pretty darn good athletes, too.
In what’s become an annual tradition, Beach and MacInnis have both accepted invites — with the backing of the Greater Calgary Amateur Football Association and the local chapter from the Al Azhar Shriners of Southern Alberta — to play in this weekend’s star-studded showcase of Montana high-school seniors.
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The game itself — one to raise money and to help make the public aware of the expert orthopedic and burn care available at the Shriners Children’s hospital in Spokane, Wash. — goes Saturday at 7 p.m. in Butte, Mont.
“It’s a huge honour to be selected for this game and represent Calgary, Alberta and Canada down south,” said MacInnis, who heads to Montana representing the Ernest Manning Griffins. “We want to really show what Calgary football means to us, how good it is and how it represents and stacks up against American competition.”
“Yeah … it’s truly a blessing to be involved in the Calgary football community and to be representing St. Francis High School,” agreed Beach, of making the trip on behalf of the powerhouse Browns. “It’s a big tradition to have all-star players from the school at this game. So to be one of the guys to go down and play in Montana is a huge honour. I’m looking forward to it.”
Both will line up as linebackers in the annual affair dating back to 1947.
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2026 Montana East West Shrine Game
From left: Charles Beach, Al Azhar Shriners past potentate Ernie Hilland and Cole MacInnis. Photo by Todd Saelhof /Postmedia
“You’ve got to be knowledgeable of the game to play linebacker, and you’ve got to have a good instinct,” said the 6-foot-2, 195-lb. Beach. “I feel like you got to just fly around with your head on a swivel. Playing sideline-to-sideline as a linebacker is crucial. It’s important to play fast. And both of us bring that talent of being able to just move around with speed. Also, you have to know the offence is trying to run on us.”
“Yeah … you have to have a ton of smarts to play the position,” agreed the 6-foot-1, 205 lb. MacInnis. “Like you have to have athleticism, sideline-to-sideline tackling skills and just be a true leader of the defence of being able to run the defence, organize it, make sure we’re in the right sets and all that.”
Beach and MacInnis each received a grant of $2,000 for the trip by GCAFA president and former Calgary Stampeders defensive back star Greg Peterson last month at popular Calgary eatery Spolumbo’s Fine Food & Deli.
“Francis and Manning have put up a rivalry in the last few years, so the stakes for this one are huge,” said MacInnis, of a game that pits the pair against one another — Beach on the East team and MacInnis on the West squad. “We won’t play against each other for another five years, and bragging rights for the next five years would be pretty nice.”
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“Yeah … we’re going to play university football together, so I’m sure this is going to be a game we’re going to talk about for a couple years,” agreed Beach. “It’s just gonna be fun to go and see each other on the field again one last time, going up against each other.”
And then it’s on to the Dinos together, returning to become teammates again like when they played minor football with the Calgary Cowboys.
“It’s just serendipitous that they’re from right here in our own backyard,” Sheahan said. “You first take an interest in them when they’re flying around the football field in high school.
“And now they are ready-made for university football. They attended spring camp with us, and they’ll be Dinos in the fall of 2026 in their first year of eligibility.”
Both Sheahan and the local Shriners chapter leaders consider Beach and MacInnis good character people who can help to build a foundation of championship culture.
“Everything is just so wonderful with these young lads,” added Ernie Hilland, an Al Azhar past potentate and coordinator for Calgary’s involvement in the shrine game for the better part of a decade. “They’re just got a positive life ahead of them, and they’ve done so well, and their families are absolutely excellent.
“And us Shriners working with (Spolumbo’s co-owner) Tony (Spoletini) and Greg and the football association all together is wonderful, too.”
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