Story by Kelly Hendricks
Photo by Luke Nankivell
Former Drake football offensive lineman and December 2012 graduate Zach Bosch was one of 22 student-athletes across the country to receive the American Football Coaches Association Allstate Good Works Team Award in November.
According to the AFCA, requirements for the award include involvement and commitment to a charity, service group or community while maintaining good academic standing and playing college football.
For Bosch, it all started in Cub Scouts. He said at a young age, his family taught him to help
anyone in need.
“One of the staples of Scouts is volunteering and community service. As long as I can remember, I have been participating in food drives, street cleanups, et cetera,” Bosch said. “Anything from shoveling the elderly neighbors’ driveways and sidewalks to simply holding the door for someone at the store. All of this helped get me started in volunteering, and I haven’t stopped since.”
When he arrived at Drake, Bosch became more involved with volunteering at different places including the Boys & Girls Clubs, local elementary schools, Meals from the Heartland, Blank Children’s Hospital, Johnston ChildServe, Vietnam Memorial Wall and the Veterans
Affairs Hospital.
“My motivation comes from being taught to always be kind to others and help out,” Bosch said. “For me, volunteering and helping people is just the right thing to do. I feel as though there is no good reason to not volunteer and help someone.”
Drake head coach Chris Creighton was honored to have one of his athletes win the
selective award.
“Zach’s award makes all of us feel good and proud,” Creighton said. “Our team takes a ton of pride in serving the community, and Zach’s recognition made all of us really proud.”
Bosch said the award has changed his life drastically, but he didn’t start volunteering to win a prize.
However, this award comes with perks.
Bosch attended the Sugar Bowl game on Jan. 2, with the other 21 student-athletes receiving the award.
“It felt great to be recognized for the work that has been done, but I feel as though it is also representative of the work the football team and other Drake teams do throughout the year,” Bosch said. “Being recognized for the award helped to shine light on the work being done at Drake by all of the sports programs, not just myself, and that was awesome to see.”
Bosch said he will never forget his Sugar Bowl experience.
“The people I was able to meet and the places I was able to see will stay with me forever,”
Bosch said.
Bosch knew Creighton had nominated him for the award, but he hardly expected to win.
Creighton said Bosch was a talented senior leader this past year. His passion energized the entire Bulldog squad.
Not only was Creighton honored, but Bosch’s teammates beamed as they surprised him with the award in the fall while he volunteered.
The Bulldogs surprised Bosch on Nov. 9, 2012, as he made his weekly visit to volunteer at the V.A. Hospital.
“Zach is a great guy who absolutely deserved to win the award for everything he’s done at the Veterans Affairs Hospital,” senior running back Trey Morse said. “I know he made a huge impact on their lives, and they made an impact on his as well.”
Freshman defensive back Ty Betka echoed Morse’s praise of Bosch’s leadership off the
football field.
“As a freshman, he was a good person to have on the team,” Betka said. “I admired his leadership and work ethic on the field, but even more so off the field.”
