Stamati Damalos '18 Recruiting Profile

    The desire to wear pads and a helmet is what drives me to play . Finishing my high school football season with 100% completion in field goals and in PAT'S is an accomplishment I will always remember. Through my high school years I always thought back to when I played youth football and loved kicking.  I always knew this was something I wanted to do but was always undecided wether or not to play because soccer was my passion! Until my senior year, when my little brother coming in as a freshman wanted to play football, it made me realize its now or never. I think growing up playing soccer from the age of four until now has definitely helped me on my power and accuracy as a kicker.  The want to play football keeps me going and working hard everyday on kicking field goals and trying to increase my distance with accuracy along with keeping up with school work and maintaining my grade point average.

Starting my senior year the team may have already had a starting kicker but I knew I had to show coach that I could definitely compete for the position. God gave me the chance on Friday night,  September 22nd in Naples, Fl when the starting kicker was injured, it gave me a chance to prove myself.  Going 2/2 in PAT's and 2/2 in field goals, this helped my team go into overtime and overcome adversity with a win. Surprised the next day to find out I was mentioned in the Naples local newspaper.  Although many people may not like being put in a high pressure situations, this is something I'm not afraid of and gives me a sense of satisfaction, especially when I succeed.  Whether being in a penalty shoot-out for soccer or deciding the outcome in the final seconds of a football game, these are examples of what I thrive on. 

Through all this, thinking how no one in my family has finished college, I will go on to be the first to graduate with a degree.  My father was a great high school football player, who could be put on the field in any position and play it well.  My father was never able to pursue football in college, due to the lack of support and having to work in the family business, which makes this even more important to me and to make my parents proud.  I am grateful and very happy that I have their support with my decision to help me follow my dreams.