Mars Area High School football coach Scott Heinauer is quick to admit he has become wiser as he has grown older.

A few years ago, he was asked to guide one of the teams in the Northern Area Football Coaches Association all-star game in the summer. He agreed, then discovered being a head coach for an all-star affair can be a pain in the ... well, let's just say it's a pain.

He learned from the experience, has since worked as an assistant coach in the state's two largest all-star football contests and will serve as the head coach for the West team in the annual Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association's East-West Game. The game is scheduled for June 19 at Mansion Park Stadium in Altoona.

"It's a unique experience to coach in a game like this," Heinauer said Wednesday. "I've been an assistant in the Big 33 [Classic] and the East-West game in the past, so I understand what all goes into it.

"There's a ton of time that goes into something like this and the first thing is to get the team picked. That will happen this weekend."

Heinauer, along with several other members of the PSFCA, were to gather at Penn State University this weekend to view videotapes of players and select the East and West teams along with the Pennsylvania squad for the Big 33 Classic June 20 against Ohio in Hershey, Pa.

Coaches were to check the tapes then breakdown players by positions and determine if they should be considered for the Big 33 team -- the top players in the state -- or the East-West game. For example, Heinauer will be one of those looking at video of offensive and defensive linemen.

There is a possibility he might get to coach his son, Justin, in the East-West game. Justin Heinauer was the starting quarterback at North Hills this past season and has never played football for his father.

"I've coached him in baseball and some other things but not football," Scott Heinauer said. "It would be nice to finally get an opportunity to coach him in a game ... we'll see what happens."

Justin Heinauer is still recovering from a broken leg but should be 100 percent by the spring. The injury occurred in North Hills' final game last season, a loss to Penn Hills in a WPIAL Class AAAA playoff quarterfinal game. He passed for 1,530 yards and 13 touchdowns with eight interceptions and ran for another 138 yards in 2008.

He hasn't decided on a college. Mount Union, a perennial contender for the NCAA Division III title, is one of the schools interested in him.

Scott Heinauer plans to keep things nice and simple for the players on the West squad. That's one of the things he has learned from coaching in all-star games.

"The first time I did it [coached in an all-star game] it was brutal," he said. "I didn't know what to expect."

One of the problems was with the terminology of the playbook. One week of practice is not enough time for players to learn a lot of plays, let alone the names of a lot of new plays.

"I have a playbook that I used for the NAFCA game against the City League all-stars after this past season," Heinauer said. "I've learned it's best to keep it simple and just say 'Sweep left' or 'Sweep right' or 'Trap right' rather than mix the players up with a lot of other stuff."

Heinauer is looking forward to the opportunity of getting to know other players from the WPIAL and the western half of the state. He said the best part of coaching in an all-star game is developing relationships with players he has either coached against or read about.

"I got to coach [Highlands quarterback] Jeff Sinclair in the NAFCA game that was played at Cupples Stadium not too long ago," Heinauer said. "I had coached against him and knew he was a tough competitor, but I didn't know what a good kid he is until I got to work with him."

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NOTES: Joining Heinauer on the West staff will be Jim Wehner of Yough, Clyde Conti from Slippery Rock High, Gay Gouse of Portage and Ron Miller from West York. ... Clearfield's Tim Janocko is the head coach for the Pennsylvania team in the Big 33 Classic. ... There is no coach from a WPIAL or City League school on the Pennsylvania staff for the Big 33.