As the ball goes up in the air, it descends on the Dowling Catholic soccer field, and a player receives it with composure. He starts running and driving with the ball through the Dowling defense…or so he thinks. In the next moment, the ball holder experiences a Dowling defender sweeping in and tackling the ball away from him. This defender is senior John Foth, an exceptionally skilled soccer player for Dowling. Though he is aggressive on the soccer field, there is more to Foth than just winning the ball in a soccer game. Dive into this story with me as I start a new segment called “Student Spotlight.” Today, we are going to tackle Foth and see how he is driven by his faith.

Foth was born on April 25th, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa, to his loving parents, Tony and Michelle. He has two siblings, Ava, who is a sophomore here at Dowling, and an older sister, Emma, who is a Dowling graduate and goes to ISU. Growing up, John had a keen interest in dinosaurs, soccer, and Disney movies. His favorite Disney movie was Cars, and he loved the character of Tow Mater. He developed his love and passion for soccer at the age of four and has grown a lot of friendships through the sport.

Foth went to Saint Francis of Assisi (SFA) in West Des Moines and attended SFA from Pre-K through 8th grade. Foth believes that one impact of SFA was the friends he made and his nurtured love for sports. He felt comfortable to branch out and get out of his comfort zone when growing up.

Foth was blessed with the opportunity to come to Dowling for dual-enrollment classes to further challenge his academic limits. He took advanced geometry at Dowling and remembers seeing his older sister, Emma, a lot. Foth maintains a close relationship with SFA by going to mass on Sundays.

Foth, having a taste of Dowling through his 8th grade dual enrollment classes, had a slight advantage over his classmates. Though he attended Dowling during COVID, he knew the workload and expectations of teachers already. During his freshman year, he went out for basketball and had a fantastic time playing. He tells me going out for clubs and activities along with being kind was important during his freshman year. His current Ut Fidem group is his old freshman basketball team that he played with, and they continue to practice their faith together even beyond the court. Foth’s favorite part of Dowling is the friends he has made here and how they impact him. 

During his sophomore year, he was involved in football and soccer in an attempt to branch out and form new relationships with his peers. Unfortunately, that year, Foth’s sister Ava, who was in 8th grade at the time, had gotten cancer. Foth initially found out from his parents and was taken aback. That year was one of sacrifices. Foth couldn’t go out as much and had the responsibility of watching his sister and his dog. On top of that, he supported his sister as she went through chemotherapy and met with the doctors. Through his sister’s fight with cancer, Foth encountered two things that were important to him. First, he found out that God has a purpose for everything and that it’s okay in life to have things that are out of your control. Second, he bonded with his sister a lot and learned from her as a sibling. Before she contracted cancer, he hadn’t connected with his sister as well and took her for granted. She battled her cancer for a year, but eventually, Ava got surgery on her leg and doctors replaced the tumor with a fake carbon bone. This meant that her long battle with cancer had finally come to a joyful end.

Foth’s plans after high school are to go to Iowa and study finance along with data analytics. He sees himself in a career as a finance manager or doing risk management for businesses. Foth prepares for the studious and challenging future ahead by enrolling himself in difficult classes here at Dowling. He wants to prepare himself for the future and real world as much as possible and knows not everything is easy and handed to you. Due to his attendance at Dowling, Foth realized his love for reading. His favorite book is The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, although he has yet to see the movie. “Reading helps develop the brain and increase one’s knowledge because of the educational value it brings,” Foth points out, “I’d take reading a book over scrolling social media any day.”

Some teachers who have made an impact on Foth are Mr. Carey and Mrs. McGrath. Mr. Carey pushes Foth to his academic limits and wants him to succeed in the classroom and beyond when he makes his endeavors beyond Dowling’s walls. Foth states, “The compassion and care I receive from my teachers causes me to give it out to others.” Foth knows that he is in good hands when Mr. Carey is teaching him. Mrs. Mcgrath also pushes Foth to not only be a better student but a better person, which most teachers forget when teaching young students. Foth appreciates her engagement with the class and how she has supported his passion for literature. Eventually, that paid off when he got awarded the John Hayes Award, given to a female and male student who show passion for academics along with athletes.

Well, we can’t talk about Foth without mentioning soccer. He is unsure if he is going to play in college and is exploring his options in Division 1 collegiate soccer along with studying abroad in England, Germany, or Spain. He is also looking at SLU, Wisconsin, and Western Illinois to play at the college level. “I want to figure out what I want to do first, and if I miss playing, then I will go out for a team,” Foth explains. He sees it as more of a high school activity but is still considering playing at the collegiate level. “Soccer has shaped me a lot in my life and 80% of my friendships are from soccer alone,” Foth says. During freshman year, he started on varsity and had to fill a gap left behind by seniors before him. His coaches saw potential in him, and Foth took the initiative to build himself up and challenge himself to become a better player. From that year on, he formed friendships and bonds that still impact him positively to this day. 

Over the summer, Foth volunteered at a special needs daycare called Camp Champs, which was at Hillside Elementary, and it was their opportunity to learn and go to school. He was there with them from 8 am to 1 pm and helped them read and write along with developing their social skills. They were of all ages and through this service, he grew to be empathetic to everyone he encountered, everywhere he went.

As you may have noticed, Foth’s friends have had a huge impact on his life, and he has taken the time to bond with them through the best and worst of games, practices, the classroom, and out in the community. His teammate and friend Jonathan Mendez is motivational and pushes him to be the best he can be. He is happy to be a captain alongside Mendez because of their exceptional season during their junior year.

Foth appreciates his fellow teammate Raymond Molina, and his ability to be empathetic and advocate for people who just need their voices to be heard. One of the best friendships that Foth has formed here is with Luis Marquez who he didn’t know well when he first transferred here but through Kairos, they eventually became the best of friends. All in all, he appreciates all his friends and close buddies because they hold him up to a higher standard and continue to push him to be a good student and a better person. 

Foth’s faith plays a huge role in his life. “Faith can unite everyone and bring us closer together as a human family,” Foth believes. Before every state soccer game, regardless of the grade the player was in, the team would pray in the chapel and ask for God’s strength and guidance. Kairos was a huge stepping stone in his faith life as he made relationships with people he never thought he would talk to. He saw people’s true inner selves and learned to welcome them with open arms and befriend them, thus cherishing their company and compassion. Foth would later be blessed with being his sister’s confirmation sponsor. “I felt honored to be called her sponsor,” he told me. At first, he questioned how he was qualified, but eventually knew it was the right thing to do. This ties back to the bond they had undergone when she was fighting cancer. They had bonded so tight that she was now asking him to be her confirmation sponsor.

“I also appreciate the priests here at Dowling Catholic because they are open, honest, and the best people a student or faculty could know during their time here,” Foth says. He would get blessings from Father Flood before soccer games because he would get nervous and fuzzy in the head before the game. The blessing helped him calm his nerves and allowed him to think straight, knowing he was in God’s hands from that moment forward.

Some fun facts about John are:

• He can do a backflip at any given time
• He really enjoys fishing at lakes and ponds
• He enjoys lifting, which allows to push through the uncomfortable
• He can bench 315 lbs and squat 405 lbs
• His favorite player is Sergio Ramos while his favorite team is Leeds United 
• His favorite artist is Coldplay 
• His favorite movie is Interstellar

A theme that strongly emanates from Foth is a passion for kindness. “Kindness is vital because it is what makes us human and knowing we are the same because we all have similar experiences but different responses to them,” Foth explains. He also recognizes when people are at their lowest, and lifts them up with compassion, either in the classroom or his personal life. A piece of advice he gave to me was, “Walk around with a smile on your face.” His reasoning behind this is that smiling is so important because it shows compassion and warmness, which can open up room for conversation or just make someone’s day a whole lot better.

His concluding statement was, “Love God above all else, then your neighbor, then yourself,” truly resonating with his deep affection for his faith and God.

If you ever get the chance to talk to Foth, he is an open-minded and kind young man who will be happy to strike up a conversation about almost anything. Also, he is very good at soccer, so watch out for him during soccer season when he dominates the field.

Thank you for reading the first segment of “Student Spotlight.”