Pass, Punt and Kick

THOMPSON FALLS – A group of children in Thompson Falls took some time out of their Sunday afternoon to take part in a countywide football competition for boys and girls.

The competition was open to all children ages six to 15 and was a part of the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick Program, one of the oldest grassroots initiatives put on by the National Football League.

Doug Willhite of Thompson Falls helped organize the friendly competition, which took place at Previs Field, the home of the Bluehawks football team, in Thompson Falls on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 3 p.m.  

“The day went really well. More kids are getting interested in the competition,” Willhite said.

According to Willhite, attendance was up at this year’s events and a lot of kids attended the competition for the first time this year.

Willhite said one of his favorite parts of the event is watching the kids learn different parts of the game of football.

“It’s great getting to watch the kids who are learning for the first time,” Willhite said.

The Punt, Pass and Kick competition involves three events, punting, passing and kicking.

Participants compete in these skill competitions to see who can gain the most yardage.

Moving from youngest to oldest the youngsters first tried their hand at punting.

During the punting event all the kids approached the challenge a little differently.

Some adhered to the stratagem of many football punters, setting the ball out in front of them, pointing their toe and letting loose to get good hang time and good distance on their punts.

Other participants tried out a drop kick style. Though these kicks didn’t feature the hang time of other punts, this style created line drives that when hit correctly covered a fair amount of distance and drew applause from the kids and parents in attendance.

The punting competition was followed by a distance-throwing event. In the the passing event participating children did their best to throw a spiral and launch the pigskin as far as possible.

The final event of the day was the kicking competition, where participants set the football on a tee and did their best to drive it down the football field.

Throughout the competition both kids and adults seemed to enjoy themselves and have a good deal of fun.

The children were very supportive of one another and when one of the kids struggled with a particular challenge, the adults on hand were kick to provide tips and prop up the spirits of the young athletes.

Willhite was very pleased with how the event turned out and he was particularly happy the participating kids had a fun time competing.

“You get to see the kids be kids. It’s been fun,” Willhite said.

The winners of Sunday’s competition will go on to a sectional competition to be held in Missoula next week.

The Punt, Pass and Kick sectionals will take place at noon on Sunday, Oct. 5.

Following the sectional competition a regional event will be hosted in Seattle.