The Football Foundation is a
combination of college and the professional football organizations that promotes
football and academics.
A player from every school is nominated and the
Foundation looks at three areas of criteria: player accomplishments, academics
and community service.
Eleven finalists are named and one is chosen to
represent the state.
Gust scored a 31 on his ACT and has a 3.96
GPA.
Additionally, the player's
coach and activities director write letters on behalf the athlete. And the
player must write an essay talking about what football meant to them in high
school.
"I think he's everything they're looking for," coach Joe LaBuda
said. "He's had great achievement on the field. He's a great person off the
field. And he's a great academic student."
Gust was awarded the George H.
Chryst Memorial Scholarship - a $1,500 award. Two other players, Aaron Ayers
from Dodgeville and Phil Bruner from South Milwaukee, earned scholarship dollars
as well.
Gust will move on to regional representation, which would carry
additional scholarship money. If he advances through the region, he would then
move to the national level.
All 50 state representatives' names appear on
a plaque that will be placed at the College Football Hall of Fame.
On
Saturday, Gust will attend a luncheon in Madison where the finalists will all be
recognized. During the Wisconsin Badgers' spring game, Gust will be recognized
at halftime where he will be presented the award by head coach Barry Alvarez.
The game will be held at Lussier Field in Madison as Camp
Randall is under renovation.
Gust said LaBuda and activities director
Arnie Bolstad were factors in his getting the award.
He said the one-page
essay he wrote about the lessons he learned came pretty easily.
But Gust
said he was shocked to earn the scholarship.
"That's a tremendous honor,"
he said. "I really can't believe that I was selected."
He said he was
shocked he was selected first-team all-state.
And now he's on cloud
nine.
"There are so many football players that are so good," he said. "I
was just shocked that I was selected in front of those guys."
Gust said
he is thrilled to get the opportunity to shake hands with Alvarez, which makes
it more tempting to walk on when he goes to Wisconsin in the fall.
But
the Shrine Bowl will likely be his last organized game of football as he focuses
on a degree in engineering.
The following is Gust's essay:
I have
played football in the Menomonie High School system for the past four years.
Menomonie is a fantastic program, which has allowed me to play on two state
qualifying football teams in my varsity career. My junior year, we became the
2002 division two state champions with a 14-0 record. My senior year we became
the 2003 division two state runner-ups with a 13-1 record. I also had the honor
of leading my team as a co-captain my senior year. Playing Menomonie football
was so much more than just the wins and losses though. It is also the provider
of some of the most valuable experience I will ever receive.
Football
taught me to work hard. My freshman year was one of the most pivotal for me in
my football career. I started out the season second string, a position I wasn't
used to playing and one that I didn't like to be at. I worked as hard as I could
to impress my coach during the season and move up to a starting role. Later on
in the season one of the players broke his thumb in a game. My coach finally
gave me a shot to play with the first team and I never went back to second
string after that. My freshman team also went 3-2-2 on the year -- a record we
were not proud of and we wanted to improve upon. Many of the players made a
commitment to our team, we became very dedicated to our sport in the off-season.
We did our time in the weight room and pushed ourselves to be better than we
were. Our sophomore season we went 7-0, only the second undefeated sophomore
season ever in our school's history! I learned a lot from that circumstance and
pushed myself to be the best I could be. Football taught me the value of hard
work and to not settle for anything less than my best. It also taught me that I
have the power to change where I'm at, as long as I am willing to put in the
time. Football taught me the value of teamwork and the necessity to trust my
teammates, to know they would do their part if I did mine.
Football also
taught me a lot of practical skills that come into play daily for me. Like most
extracurricular activities, football took up a lot of time. I had to learn to
manage my time wisely and work efficiently to get things done, on the field, at
home, and in the classroom. My experiences through football also showed me that
I need to work on my weaknesses to improve or others may exploit them. When we
played teams we learned the importance of sportsmanship. I remember a lot of
things that happened on the field that I have remarked on off the field. I want
to be remembered as not only a good player, but as a good person too. The lesson
I got from that was a quote from George Foreman, "Be humble or be humiliated."
Our coach told us this quote and extrapolated on it for us. I learned that good
sportsmanship is how you behave yourself, not only as a player in football, but
also as a person in life.
More than all the lessons I learned though,
football was about fun. I love playing football with my friends. There is
nothing like the feeling of strapping on your pads and going out on the field
with the kids you have grown up with. Each day we would go out to the practice
field knowing we would have to work hard and sacrifice a lot. We knew that, but
each day we did it willingly, not so much for ourselves but for each other.
Football fostered many friendships for me, with kids I had known for years as
well as kids I had never met. There is no greater high in life than after
winning a hard fought, close football game. This year we won our state
semi-final game 22-20. Everyone on our team was exhausted and totally spent, but
it was one of the happiest moments of my life. We had played our hearts out for
our teammates and did what needed to be done. In the locker room afterwards we
were nothing but smiles. Those moments are the reasons I played football. The
feelings of accomplishment, joy and satisfaction I got from winning a game with
my friends. It was about all the enjoyment and fun I had received playing
Menomonie football for the past four years.