Knoxville Kicking Camp-March 10

This past weekend was my first group kicking camp in Knoxville and it was certainly a success. Everyone that participated in the camp improved and each participant benefited from the competitive atmosphere.

These camps are made to be instructive, competitive, and fun. I could see the comradery that was built with the kickers and everyone was able to learn more by watching others. It was exciting to see kickers improve by 6-7 yards on kickoffs and become more accurate on field goals in a matter of 3 hours.

The group of kickers in the morning consisted of freshman or sophomores, while the afternoon group was for the older and more advanced kickers.

In the morning session Alex Rinella (Science Hill HS) did excellent in the charting session by making 8 of 9 field goals and JJ Jerman (Seymour HS) performed best on kickoffs. The younger kickers are very talented and they will see huge improvement in leg strength and consistency in the next year or so.

Some other kickers of note were Roberto Velkovic (Karns HS), Devon Helton (Cumberland Gap HS) and John Huffman (Science Hill). All three of those kickers had a nice day and showed great potential.

In the afternoon the temperatures started to heat up and so did the kickers. Some of the top names at the camp were Mitchell Mascaro (College of Cumberlands) and Henrique Ribeiro (U. of Tenn. Chattanooga signee).

The camp concluded with a single elimination field goal competition, which was highlighted by a battle between two of the top 2014 kicking prospects in the state, Rafael Gaglianone and Robby Strachan. Both kickers nailed kick after kick and backed up all the way to 56 yards without missing with Robby finally winning the competition. Honestly you can say that both kickers won though because you could see the competitive juices flowing and both kickers gained from the experience.

These camps are probably one of my favorite parts of being a football kicking coach in Tennessee. I can see kickers getting better and you can see kicking coming alive for the kickers who attend. I look forward to doing more of these Tennessee kicking camps throughout the offseason!

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www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com