Carlos Lopez On 'A Specialists Path'

James Wilhoit's On 'A Specialists Path'

When Carlos Lopez left his native country of Venezuela to move to Knoxville, Tennessee, he never realized the opportunities his talent for ‘kicking a ball’ would open up for him.

Carlos Lopez is entering his junior season as the starting kicker for Division II powerhouse Carson Newman College. He came to me last year to help him take his kicking to the next level. After two days of kicking lessons with him, he completely inspired me with his work ethic and desire to succeed.

Desire and work ethic are important aspects to a successful athlete, but talent is also vital to success. Fortunately for Carlos he possesses all three of those qualities; and this gives him unlimited possibilities.

This is Carlos Lopez On A Specialist’s Path.

Carlos had spent most of his youth in Venezuela. But due to the political unrest in that country, his mother decided to move their family to the United States.

While looking for a place to call home, Carlos' mother, Arly, fell in love with Carlos' stepfather, Tony, and they decided to settle near the Smoky Mountains in Seymour, Tennessee.

Carlos had to make many new adjustments to his surroundings but he was able to find comfort in being on the athletic field. Not surprisingly, his specialty was soccer.

Like most high school football coaches (not that you’ve ever heard me say this before), the head coach was in need of a kicker. And of course he looked to the nearest soccer field to find his answer.

“I first got started when I was practicing for a soccer match and the head coach for the team asked if I wanted to try out because they needed a kicker,” Carlos said. “So the next day I went out there and he told me what I needed to do to kick the ball. I gave it try and from then on I became the starting kicker for Seymour High School.”

Carlos was the star player on the soccer team; however that didn’t impress his ‘non-football’ friends. They just didn’t think very highly of him being a kicker on a football team.

“Many of my friends thought it was great I was a kicker, because they were on the football team and they really needed a kicker,” Carlos said. “But the rest of my friends, the ones that were not on the team, always told me that I was playing the “non-athletic” position. They always made fun of the fact in practice all I did was kick 12-20 balls and went home.”

Carlos kept playing soccer in high school, and also continued to play the “non-athletic” kicker position on the football team. He finished his senior year in high school as a very successful dual sport star in both soccer and football.

His success however caused some personnel conflict for Carlos. Now that he had graduated, he had to decide whether he wanted a partial scholarship at a major soccer program, or if he wanted to pursue additional financial aid as a kicker.

“My dream was to first make it somewhere for soccer,” Carlos said. “After getting offers from Clemson University, UAB, and University of Mobile Alabama for soccer, I thought that I was going in the right path. Unfortunately, my limited English skills resulted in my not performing well on the ACT.”

Carlos did not let a low ACT score deter him from going to college. After polishing up his English skills and taking some ACT prep courses, he was able to raise his score to a college level.

“The coaches at Carson-Newman College took notice of my kicking talent and they always believed I could get into college,” Carlos said. “So once I got a qualifying score they offered me a scholarship to play football. Now my dreams have changed; I’m working hard into becoming a professional football kicker someday.”

Carlos was ecstatic to have a scholarship to college but the next step was to perform at a college level. His freshman year was full of ups and downs and his head coach, Ken Sparks, didn’t give Carlos very many opportunities to kick field goals. He finished his freshman year just 1 for 4 on field goals and had some tough memories from that year.

“The worst moment I have had to face being a kicker happened to me my freshmen year,” Carlos said. “We were playing against Newberry College when I had the chance to hit two field goals and missed both; we ended up losing that game by 6 points. At the moment I felt horrible, but with the support from fellow teammates and family, I got over it and moved on.”

Carlos was determined to improve his kicking going into his second year of college and looked to work with me to improve his technique.

“Before last year I never really had been taught the proper way to kick a football,” Carlos said. “I just looked at videos online and just practiced a lot. That all changed once I had the opportunity to train with James Wilhoit.”

Carlos worked extremely hard over the two days of kicking lessons he took with me. I could see a dramatic difference in his accuracy, and height on the ball, from the first day to the end of the second day.

After a great deal of practicing proper technique, Carlos had a banner year as he hit 11 of 12 field goals this last year and was able to get revenge for his tough game the previous year against Newberry College.

“The next year it was Newberry’s turn to come to our home and play us,” Carlos said. “It was the opener of the Conference games. All I could think of was how I missed the two field goals the past year.”

The past season his head coach, Coach Sparks, was reluctant to try field goals, but this year Jose had proven that he was more than capable to handle the job. After nailing a 32 yarder earlier in the game, Carlos was called upon to make his first big kick under pressure. It wasn’t just any normal kick though, as he was about to kick in a driving rain storm. Thereby adding pressure to an already pressure filled kick.

“Knowing that this game was under a huge rain storm, I got called again for the tying field goal from 30 yards out,” Carlos said. Adding, “It sailed through.”

Not only did Carlos nail the game tying kick but he also got an opportunity for complete redemption from last year’s loss to Newberry.

“Finally with 14 seconds left we had a chance to kick a 37 yard field goal to win the game. I hit it and we won 23-20. The whole crowed and team loved me after the game. It was great to come overcome my struggles from last year and make those kicks.”

This coming year, Carlos is looking to build on his successes. First, he would like to help his college team for the next two years, and secondly, he’d also like to get a chance to make an NFL team in the 2012 draft class.

And those aren’t bad goals at all for a soccer player who decided to play the “non athlete” position on his high school football team.

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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