Sports

High Ridge Man Selected for 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games

Brock Guseman will represent Team USA in bocce at the Athens event.

Brock Guseman, of High Ridge, will be going for the gold when he represents Team USA in the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games.

Guseman, 32, is one of only seven Missouri athletes to be chosen for the event, which will take place in Athens, Greece, from June 25 to July 4. He was the only athlete chosen from the St. Louis area. Team USA will consist of about 300 athletes from the United States and the District of Columbia.

Guseman, who attended Northwest High School, works as a receiving clerk at Feed My People in High Ridge. He will be representing Team USA in bocce, a sport he's played for the last three years. He has been involved with the St. Louis Metro Area Special Olympics for six years and also plays softball and basketball.

Find out what's happening in Fenton-High Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I was so excited when I got the letter," he said, noting that he will be in Greece on his birthday, which is July 4.

"The first thing I did was I call my mom and told her, and she was like you've got to be kidding me," he said.

Find out what's happening in Fenton-High Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Terri Dallas, a coordinator for NextStep for Life, nominated Guseman for the games. NextStep is a non-profit organization, which provides programs and services to residents with developmental disabilities in Jefferson County. As part of the nomination, Guseman attended a Special Olympics sports camp in Mexico, Mo.

"They could have chosen Brock to compete in any sport, but they were really impressed with his bocce skills," she said. "He mixed well with all the coaches, and they especially liked his personality - he just lights up the room when he walks in."

Prior to nominating Guseman, Dallas contacted his parents Carol and Tom to make sure they were comfortable with the idea.

"I could just hear Carol's heart sink (in fear) over the phone," Dallas said. "I told her that I would have never nominated him if I didn't think he could do it."

 Carol Guseman admits she and her husband were at first really nervous about the opportunity and their son traveling abroad, especially in light of the recent terrorist threats.

"But we thought this is chance of a lifetime and we just can't say no," Carol Guseman said. "We have never wanted to hold him back and have always pushed him as far as he can go."

After learning that Guseman was chosen to compete in the Olympics, Dallas contacted the Italia-America Bocce Club to ask if there was someone there who would be willing to provide private lessons to Guseman.  Rich Robertson, who recently participated in the North American Bocce Championship, stepped up to the plate and coaches Guseman once a week.

"We work on the fundamentals of the game, how to position yourself, how to throw the ball and a lot of strategy," Robertson said.  "Brock's a good kid. The main thing I try to impress upon him is if you win, you win, and if you don't, you don't - at least you competed."

As part of his involvement with the World Games, Guseman needs to raise $5,000 to help pay for the trip. He is already well on his way to that goal, but is hoping to raise more money to help pay for other athletes to attend the games.

To make a donation or post a comment for Guseman, visit www.somo.org/brockguseman.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Fenton-High Ridge