Jared Van Curen, a Coosa High School senior football and soccer player, received the 2010 NAIA Champion of Character High School Athlete Award at the FCA/ Chick-fil-A Champions of Character breakfast held at the Forum on Thursday morning.   One boy and one girl were nominated for the award by administrators from 11 high schools in the area. The student athletes were nominated for their integrity, responsibility, sportsmanship and leadership.

Van Curen has been a standout student and athlete at Coosa High.  He was recently named a semifinalist for the 2011 class of the Coca-Cola Scholars program, he was named a 2010 AP Scholar by the College Board, he is a member of the Floyd County champion CHS Academic Decathlon team, and he participated in the Governor’s Honors program in 2009.   Van Curen is also a candidate to receive an appointment to a military academy this year.

The breakfast and award were part of the NAIA Championship Football week in the Rome area that will culminate with the NAIA Championship game on Saturday between Carroll College and the University of Sioux Falls.  Players from Carroll College participated in the breakfast but players from Sioux Falls were unable to attend because of their late arrival in Rome.  This year is the first year the Champions of Character award was awarded.

Champions of Character is a program of the NAIA that encourages integrity, responsibility, sportsmanship and leadership.  The participating teams visit schools each year to talk with students about what it takes to be Champions of Character.  This year the teams were to visit Garden Lakes Elementary and Midway Primary.