When most people think of strength and conditioning, they often think of students pushing themselves and achieving new goals. However, it’s also about the coach’s growth. This year, strength and conditioning coach Jessica Gust was awarded the Mid-America Regional Coach of the Year by the National High School Strength Coaches Association (NHSSCA) for her dedication and excellence.
According to science teacher and strength coach Jessica Gust, the NHSSCA is an organization that was created to give support to strength and conditioning coaches across the nation. She said one of the biggest issues the NHSSCA wanted to solve was how coaches felt very isolated.
“A lot of strength coaches work in isolation because there’s nobody else here who does my job,” Gust said. “Sometimes you sit here, and you think, am I the only person that has this problem? Or am I the only person who’s struggling with X, Y or Z? To be able to spend time with other professionals who are also working in isolation (is helpful), where you can commiserate and also problem solve together because a lot of the issues are the same. It doesn’t matter if you’re a strength coach in Minnesota or a strength coach in Texas, you’re going to run into a lot of the same issues, and having this organization for just high school coaches has been a lifesaver for a lot of us.”
According to senior Gavin Jennings, who’s been in strength and conditioning for several years now, the award was well earned because Gust helps athletes achieve their goals in sports and lifting.
“It’s very deserving,” Gavin said. “She’s helped many of our programs succeed in sports or individually, just lifting in the off-season. So, yeah, I think that’s great.”
Some of the strength and conditioning participants were unaware of Gust getting the regional coach of the year award. Junior Griffin Hanson said he knew Gust was an important person in the industry, but he didn’t know about Gust getting the Mid America Regional Coach of the Year award. However, Hansen said he thinks Gust’s achievement was deserved.
“I know that she’s a high rank within the strength and conditioning Minnesota industry, but whatever (the award) is, she definitely deserves it all,” Hanson said.
Gust said even though she had to go through a long process of applications and recommendations to get the award, she still attributes the award to the students and coaches in the strength and conditioning program. She said she would have no job if it weren’t for the people in the program.
“I wouldn’t be getting this award if we didn’t have really dedicated athletes and sports coaches who were supportive of sending their kids to strength and conditioning in season,” Gust said. “So, this is not really an award for me. This is an award for our whole program and all of our kids and all of our sports coaches because without them, I have no job. So yes, I get to go and receive the award, but really, I’m just so proud of all of our kids and coaches for leaning into strength and conditioning and the value that it has for our athletes.”
Jennings said that through strength and conditioning, coach Gust has been a great mentor and influence on him. He said he attributes his growth and increased confidence to Gust and strength and conditioning.
“She’s helped me build confidence not only in the weight room, but outside of school, whether it was leadership or hard work,” Jennings said. “I think just over the years, building that has really been a success in the weight room here at Park.”
According to Hanson, Gust takes a lot of time to help students individually, even when the weight room is full. He said she has been helping him for a long time.
“Gust loves to teach one-on-one,” Hanson said. “You get in the weight room, and even if there are a lot of kids, she’s very good about taking time for each individual, showing people how it’s done. She’s done that for me for the past six years, and I think that has helped me a ton throughout my athletic career.”
Even though she won an award for coach of the year, Gust said the true reward is the job itself. She said she’s been coaching for a long time, and it still remains one of her favorite parts of her day.
“I love teaching, but coaching is really where my passion sits,” Gust said. “I’ve been coaching for a really long time. Twenty-seven years of coaching is a lot. I started coaching when I was really young, and it continues to be my favorite part of my day, every day.”
