What it is like to be the mom of a kicker? For me, it's 90% amazing, 5% frustrating and 5% nauseating. I will forever treasure the Sunday's I have spent driving to and from Saddleback or OCC and shagging more balls in 3 years than I would have ever thought possible. Depending on the day, the drive can either be full of laughs or very, very quite but either way I wouldn't trade it for anything. As my family will all tell you, it's very hard for me to watch them kick in a game. I keep hoping it will get easier, not sure it will but I love every minute of it.
When this journey started, I had no idea where to find a kicking coach. John Baxter, former USC Special Teams Coach, recommended Brad, Alan and West Coast Kicking. The boys have been training with them since. I know when they walk on the field they are as prepared as they can be, even if they miss:). The growth they have achieved, the friends they have made and they coaching they have had is amazing! It has been a great ride, one that I am thankful for everyday and I hope it continues for many more years.
Shari Coale, Mother of Kyle and William Coale
Just last night my son, Sebastian, and I returned from a trip to Seattle where my he had a meeting with University of Washington's Special Teams coach.
I have never had a better Mother's Day experience than that wondrous culmination of all of my experiences as a mother watching him doing his kicking work from the high school football stadium stands.
My son would certainly not ever have dreamed of an outcome like this, and thoughts of him possibly playing Division 1 Football never would have crossed my mind as he was growing up.
Sebastian was a soccer player from a very young age, and never had any football experience. The kind of serendipity he experienced one day after soccer practice at Beckman High School, the summer before his freshman year, is simply amazing. Walking near the practice field, he happened to meet Coach Brad Bohn from West Coast Kicking Academy, who was working that year as the Freshman Football Head Coach, in addition to his Special Teams coaching work. Coach Bohn encouraged Sebastian to try football, and when the answer was 'I'm a soccer player', he asked Sebastian to kick a football toward a distant fence. After seeing that first ball hit the fence, Coach Bohn invited Sebastian to join the freshman team as Kicker. Coach Bohn took Sebastian immediately under his extraordinary Special Teams wing, and began training.
Due to the incredibly professional level of technique training that Sebastian received from Coach Bohn and West Coast Kicking Academy, his success on the field was almost immediate. Sebastian performed as if he were a seasoned Kicker, not like one who had just begun learning 6 weeks prior. During his sophomore year, on the Varsity team, Sebastian broke school records, and continued to improve for two more years under the consistent training and mentorship of West Coast Kicking staff. During all four years sitting in the stands watching Sebastian play, I cannot adequately express the mixed emotions of extreme pride, happiness, and nervousness at the key moments when all eyes were on my son, and with success or failure he potentially could be altering his future in ways which will not be known for years to come. Most of all I am thankful to have been able to watch my sweet little boy growing up to be a respectful young man of solid character and quiet strength which allows him to pursue his dreams, mindful that the possibilities are limitless.
Christiana Valerio, Mother of Sebastian Valerio
