If you think you're looking forward to the 2023 Iowa football season, I promise you it's just a fraction of how excited these kids are. It's time to introduce the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital Kid Captains for this season.

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2023 marks the 14th year the Iowa football program has teamed with the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital for a Kid Captain at each game.

This season will be the seventh year for the perfect complement to the Kid Captain... the Hawkeye Wave. Fans inside Kinnick Stadium began to wave at the children's hospital at the conclusion of the first quarter of every Iowa home game in the fall of 2017.

Each year, a different young person is chosen as a Kid Captain for every one of Iowa's football games, home and away. Every one of those captains has been or is still being treated by the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, across the street from Kinnick Stadium.

What does being a Kid Captain mean? It means an unforgettable day not only for the captain and their family. Here's a look back at last year.

Here are the 12 kids chosen for the upcoming season.

University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital
University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital
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The 2023 Kid Captains are listed below along with their age, and hometown.

  • September 2 (versus Utah State) Gracelyn Springer (10) of Alburnett
  • September 9 (at Iowa State) Nile Kron (6) of Iowa City
  • September 16 (versus Western Michigan) Maggie Larson (6) of Urbandale
  • September 23 (at Penn State) Gabby Ford (17) of Fairfield
  • September 30 (versus Michigan State) Wyatt Rannals (9) of Cedar Rapids
  • October 7 (versus Purdue) Max Schlee (7) of Farmersburg
  • October 14 (at Wisconsin) Madi Ramirez (17) of LeClaire
  • October 21 (versus Minnesota) Bentley Erickson (12) of Brainerd, Minnesota
  • November 4 (at Northwestern) Lincoln Veach (5) of Maquoketa
  • November 11 (versus Rutgers) Chloe Dinkla (10) of Winterset
  • November 18 (versus Illinois) Cooper Estenson (11) of North Liberty
  • November 24 (at Nebraska) Nathan McDonald (16) of Delta

You can read the stories of each of this season's Kid Captains here. Congratulations, kids! Each of you is an inspiration to us all.

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