Anthony Farinella '12 Recruiting Profile

Anthony Farinella. To start off I am a junior at Downers Grove South High school and I am the starting kicker on the varsity football team. I realize that at my position it isn't about the size, speed, or bench, but what it comes down to really is skill, experience, and leg strength. These attributes are what make kickers who they are and I personally feel that I fill each category nicely, especially leg strength. As a football player I have played many positions on the field throughout my youth career leading up to the varsity team and I would say that it was a successful career. Although, when it came down to it I was always going to be a kicker because that is what I'am best at, even at a young age. When the time came for varsity, kicking became my specialty. Throughout my time as a kicker I have improved greatly, and this is what helped me to make both the all-conference team and the Tom Lemming Chicago land all-area team this year as a junior. I feel that these accomplishments are just small parts of what I can really offer a team because it is what happens on the field that really matters and that is where I will get things done. Putting the ball in a position for my defense to be successful is very key when the game awaits on every play and with this I will be able lead my defense down a successful path. Or when the game is just out of reach and a field goal puts my team back in the game I will be able to offer the skills, experience, and leg strength to do just that. In my life I have always favored warm weather, but being from Chicago it seems like that doesn't happen much so when looking at schools I will always feel warmth is nice but really it comes down to where I will be most successful both athletically and academically. To go into more detail about the type of school I'am looking for I'd have to say a bigger school that I can make a big statement on the field for, but the school needs to have a good academic base too. While attending college, handling both my athletic and academic responsibilities I will always have a great number of goals in the back of my mind. The obvious getting good grades and graduating from college, but then there are the goals that you think about from when you were a child. These are the ones that I have set for myself in regards to football and being a kicker. The goals that sort of make you smile just thinking about. My major goal in this aspect is to compete at the highest level that I am given the opportunity to and not just compete but excel. It isn't just getting to that point, but what I do with the opportunity I am given is what really will define me as a person and that is what I set my goals on. Making the big kick to win the game that has been talked about all year and now comes down to just the ball and my foot. Or kicking the ball so far deep in the end zone that the team cannot return it giving them tough field position every time on offense. Outside from the goals on the field, I also have one major goal off the field that I have picked up from my personal role model Walter Payton. This being the greatest leader off the field, outside of all the big hype, when nobody is looking.