G-R's Roeding awarded Class A Ed Thomas Award

   Matt Roeding, as part of Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School’s boys’ athletics, has made trips with his teammates to just about every high-profile state tournament locale in Iowa, from the UNI-Dome to Principal Park to Wells Fargo Arena.
   But Roeding has also found joy beyond Iowa’s state lines, traveling down to Harlan, Kentucky with fellow members of the First Presbyterian Church in Reinbeck every July to help build housing, clean yards, and otherwise provide for those in need.
   That is one of the qualities that led to the Iowa Football Coaches Association awarding Roeding with the Ed Thomas Award for Class A, one of only six high school seniors who receives the award every year.
   The IFCA’s award is based on three standards that Thomas, the late Aplington-Parkersburg football coach, made a priority during his coaching career: Faith, Family and Football.
   “I’ve got a lot of friends from Aplington-Parkersburg and they all speak highly of Ed Thomas and what he meant to the community,” Roeding said. “Members of the Ed Thomas Foundation were there on our senior awards night to present the award to me, and that was a huge honor for them to come to our award night to make that presentation and it’s an honor to be presented with it.”
   The full story is in the June 8 Register.