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TARPON SPRINGS
The life of a kicker on a football team can be a lonely existence.
He's not needed at most practices and often must work on his craft alone. And during games, he spends more time on the sidelines than on the field.
At Tarpon Springs High, the position has been so anonymous through the years that the player who performs the task has become known as "kicker dude" because the coaches barely know his name.
But that could be changing with Michael Hill, who is in his second year as the Spongers' kicker.
While the 16-year-old junior is still known as "kicker dude," he is considered a valuable part of the Spongers' maroon and white fabric.
"A kicker has to make tackles," said George Kotis, Tarpon's head coach. "That's how a kicker gets the respect of his teammates. He's one who's always thrown his nose into it and doesn't mind getting in there. He could be a half-decent corner."
"He's a real football player," said Zach DeBell, 16, an offensive tackle who has known Hill since about age 5 when they were in the same Cub Scout troop. "He puts his heart into it. He puts a lot of time into it and he's determined."
In a split second, Hill goes from a guy watching the game from just beyond the gridiron to a game changer. It's an emotional roll coaster.
"I'm just trying to keep my head and focus on the game," Hill said of his time on the sideline. "I'm just trying to keep a good mind-set and to just know that when I go out there … I'm going to make it. I'm going to be confident and I root my team on."
This season, Hill consistently nails extra points and is four for six on field goal attempts, including his longest, a 43-yarder. He missed one and another was blocked.
According to Prokicker.com, Hill is ranked the No. 1 kicker among juniors in the state. He's third among all kickers in the state and 12th in the nation.
Like many football kickers, Hill has a soccer background. He has played soccer practically all his life. Last year, the forward and center midfielder was an honorable mention selection on Pinellas County Athletic Conference all-county team.
Hill's father, Joe Hill, 46, played college soccer and is the boys soccer coach at Tarpon Springs High.
Growing up, Michael Hill's home was just a 100 yards away from a soccer field. When he was 9, he also played football for the Tarpon Springs Junior Spongers. That's when he started kicking.
"At that age, if you kicked a field goal, it was worth 2 points," said Joe Hill, also a teacher at Oak Grove Middle School in Clearwater. "He was scoring two points consistently and it was a great advantage. All we would hear is, 'I can't wait to see him kick in high school.' "
Now Michael Hill is doing just that and doing it well, which is no small task, said Jamie Kohl, a former college and professional kicker who now facilitates about 90 kicking camps around the country.
Kohl, who kicked for Iowa State and evaluates high school kickers nationally for ESPN, said it takes a special athlete to be a successful kicker. When the pressure is on, a typical athlete's muscles tighten up, he said. That can't be the case with a kicker because that tightness changes the leg swing,
"It's a fine motor skill, like baseball hitting or throwing a football," said Kohl, 32. "Being off just a little bit can cause you to miss. And the difference is, all eyes are on you. You have to be someone who can walk out there during game conditions and put it through the upright consistently. Mentally, they (kickers) have to be in a different spot."
Michael Hill, a recent inductee into the school's National Honor Society, said he's there mentally and has the discipline to practice. He's not at the team's full practice but he kicks every day.
The majority of the time, Hill is standing on the sideline. But he's a member of the football team family.
He completed summer workouts with the team and practices with the team as much as the coaches allow. If it were up to Hill, he'd be playing another position in addition to kicker, Kotis said. But the coach wants him to focus on kicking and minimize the risk of injury.
Hill understands that he will be known for what he does during those brief moments that he steps onto the field.
"It's kind of hard because if you miss it, you are going to be known as the kicker who missed," he said. "I want to be known as the one who is part of the team and the one who is accurate."
Demorris A. Lee can be reached at dalee@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4174
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