Two varsity athletes have to play double time this season, participating in boys soccer while also kicking for the football team.
These players have been pulled from the soccer team their freshman and sophomore years to join football. The three main jobs as a placekicker are scoring extra points, kicking field goals and doing kickoffs.
When choosing athletes for this position, coaches are looking for certain criteria and levels of mastery. Matt Hemenway, kicker and sophomore football coach, is usually the one who goes out to find and train these athletes.
“It’s somebody that’s had soccer experience that knows how to kick the ball already, and then I can mold them into what they need to be in terms of a football kicker,” Hemenway explained.
Senior Shawn Stephens and junior Landon Huber have been playing soccer for many years, perfecting their athletics skills throughout that time. This has made them excellent additions to the football team as placekickers. Since Huber is a soccer goalie and Stephens is a defender, they both have to be able to “kick a soccer ball pretty far” in order to excel at their soccer positions.
Being on both sports teams means a lot of time commitment for the athletes. Football practice starts around 2:30 p.m. every afternoon and goes until 4 p.m. Then soccer starts up at 5 p.m. and goes to 7 p.m. later that evening. They do this Monday through Thursday, with the games being on Fridays. These busy days do not leave very much room for anything else besides sports, so they have to find ways to make the best use of their free time.
With the players having to split their time between both sports, it makes it much more challenging to participate or completely integrate into both communities. That does not mean that the teams are not supportive towards them though.
“When I first came in, I thought I was going to be the weird guy because I’m just a kicker, but they were very welcoming,” Huber said.
As the season has progressed, they have continued to improve their kicking skills. With so much practice time and technical leg work, many of the coaches can see improvement in just a couple of weeks.
“They have been great, especially with the distance they’re getting on their kickoffs and field goals, which is really good,” Hemenway said. “They are building up strength.”
Even with the complications of being a multi-sport athlete, it can be very fun and rewarding, especially with the support from the coaches and players. It creates a welcoming environment that helps the athletes continue to grow on and off the field.
“Playing both sports has developed me as a person and I have learned so much from both communities,” Stephens said.
As the players continue to improve this season, they hope to gain more recognition for their small, and yet very important role on the team. Whatever arises, they believe that they will “be prepared for anything” and will keep on improving for both future soccer and football games.
