They share the same goal and are currently doing everything in their power to reach it. William Testa, Italy, and Timo Bronn, Germany, are getting on a plane, traveling to Austin, Texas, to display their talent and compare their skills with the best Kickers/Punters of their age group, in the USA.
I first met William this summer during the U19 European Championships in France, when Austria played Italy in the Semi - Final. During the special team warmup, I heard that “Boom”, the sound it makes, when the foot hits the ball powerfully and just perfectly. I looked at the other side of the field, the kicker of the Italian National Team was warming up, kicking Field Goals from 45 and 50 yards and his Kick Offs were even more spectacular. After the game I talked to him and got to know a very dedicated athlete, with the goal to play College Football. William attended a EuroKickers’ Camp later this summer in Austria and besides his job, he is practicing kicking every day.
Pic: William TESTA, Bergamo, Italy
Timo first contacted EuroKickers via Facebook. His clear cut goal is also to play College Football. I asked him to attend one of the Kicking Camps but unfortunately, there was none in Germany this summer. So he signed up for the Camp in Austria, endured the 7 hours train ride to Schwaz, Tyrol and joined several other kickers that weekend. His talent was obvious and he was very coachable, a technical kicker with good form and great consistency. I think he even won the accuracy contest during the camp. We discussed, what he would have to do to improve his kicking and he went right back to practicing, after his return to Germany. I can see the progress in the practice videos he shared.
Pic: Timo BRONN, Stuttgart, Germany
Working hard is one thing, doing all the administrative tasks to get cleared by the NCAA and to be eligible for Division I Football is the other. But it has to be done! The rules by the NCAA for European American Football players are weird and some are not reasonable, but this is not the time to get into this discussion! So William and Timo took the SAT, translated all their transcripts, payed the fees and forwarded everything to the NCAA; no feedback yet, but we are hoping for the best!
In 2013, EuroKickers teamed up with Brent Grablachoff and Kickingworld, based in Austin, Texas and hosted a Kicking Camp in Bolzano, Italy. Brent is organizing Kicking Camp all over the USA, about 50 Camps a year. The best Kickers from every Camp qualify for the Showcase Camp in December. This Camp is the best way to compete against the best Kickers in the USA in this age group and a great chance to get your name on the recruiting boards of the different schools.
I sent the videos of the two EuroKickers to Brent, he recognized their talent and said that both would qualify for this invite-only Camp. Well, William and Timo invested some money and are on the way to Texas. The Showcase Camp will be this weekend and Sunday 10th of December will be live on Youtube (www.kickingworld.com/live/)!
Best of Luck to William and Timo!