By Sebastian Moraga / Snovalleystar.com
So the snowstorm had a plus side to it, after all.
At least it did for Cameron Vanwinkle.
The power outages kept the Mount Si High School (Wash.) junior and record-breaking kicker from watching one of his heroes stumble on national television.
As part of his education as a kicker, Vanwinkle has attended kicking camps directed by Billy Cundiff.
Cundiff, the Baltimore Ravens kicker, missed a 32-yard kick Jan. 22 that kept his team from advancing to the Super Bowl.
“I was a little surprised,” he said of hearing about Cundiff’s mishap. “The pressure must have gotten to him.”
The student of the game, and of kicking in particular, has other hypotheses as to what might have happened.
“If it’s a bad hold and you hit the laces,” he said, “it is a guaranteed miss. My dad and I watch kicks and if the kicker misses, we look to see if it’s a good hold.”
Such attention to detail — that and a powerful foot that belies his 165-pound frame — have several Division I universities eyeing Vanwinkle as a possible recruit.
Oregon, Missouri, Washington, and this week Tennessee, have approached Vanwinkle, who broke a handful of school records last year.
Much like his hero from Crab Town, Md., Vanwinkle feels the pressure.
“I’m a little nervous,” he said, “I’m trying to help my parents out.”
He said he hopes to get a full ride to a Division I university and save his folks some money. Then, he said he hopes to make it to the National Football League, something that stood just above impossible the first time he played high school football his freshman year.
“I just wanted to try a new sport out,” he said, “make new friends. Soccer was my sport before.”
Vanwinkle’s football coach Charlie Kinnune said he had already turned some heads as a middle schooler.
“I was told, when he was a seventh- or eighth-grader,” Kinnune said, “that we had this kid coming up.”
The “kid” took over kicking duties his freshman year and had to earn the trust of his teammates slowly.
Those same teammates nowadays call him or his kicks “Money” for Vanwinkle’s almost-guaranteed accuracy.
Kinnune said he has never had a kicker recruited at this high level.
“I’m just sitting back, going, ‘Someone’s going to get themselves a really good kicker,’” Kinnune said.
Although conscious that college is still a year away, Vanwinkle works toward preparing himself for the college game.
In college, kickoffs happen at the 30-yard line, which will require a 70-yard kick to get to the goal line.
“Right now, I’m guessing, I’m averaging 63 or 64 yards on kickoffs,” Vanwinkle said.
Kinnune said college kickers tend to be about 30 pounds heavier than Vanwinkle.
“He’s got to get heavier, stronger,” he said. “He’s got to gain weight.”
Other things, he can’t prepare for in a weight room.
“In high school, you look to the side and see fans,” Vanwinkle said. “In college, there’s going to be fans everywhere you look.”
Vanwinkle has not decided yet which college those fans will root for or what he will major in, but he said he is done with year-round rain.
“I’d like to go somewhere warm,” he said.
Ultimately, the decision will come down to whoever helps his parents pay for college the most. If it’s warm there, all the better.
If after four years, the NFL comes calling, better still.
“He’s got a bright future,” Kinnune said. “He’s a great decision-maker on and off the field.”
A couple of years in the league might help set him up financially for a long time, Vanwinkle said.
Nevertheless, he said, it’s not about the money for him. It’s about rubber on leather and leather taking flight, be it round or oval-shaped.
“Even before I kicked the football, I just loved kickball,” he said. “I have always loved kicking a ball.”
