Getting A Leg Up

Freshman placekicker Skyler Southam wastes no time making the national scene as a U.S. Army/Eastbay All-American selection

Football games are often decided by only one point.  Many times a game comes down to the final play and rests on the precise execution of a placekick.  At the center of such a breathtaking moment is the kicker.  A member of the team who mostly waits on the sidelines until the offense comes within field goal range to begin warming up for such a moment.  This is what a kicker trains for.  This is their time to make a difference in the game.

In the case of the 2012 Wasatch High School varsity football season, there weren’t many of these moments.  That’s not to say they weren’t prepared, however, because on their sideline was Skyler Southam, a 5’10”, 160 lb freshman in golden cleats… and with a golden leg.  This season Skyler converted 36 of 37 extra point attempts.  His only kick not to convert the touchdown was his final attempt of the season, which was blocked.  Not necessarily his fault, but football is a team game.  Skyler is the first to say that.  “The whole year was amazing,” Skyler said.  “My teammates were so great, especially Zach (Reiss, his holder) and Logan (Huntington, the long snapper).  It really was a fun season.”  Fun certainly translated into success for Southam as he was recently selected to participate in the U.S. Army/Eastbay All-American Freshman football game in San Antonio, Texas, at the Alamodome on January 6^th, 2013.  In other words, Skyler was the top kicker to play regularly on his varsity squad as a freshman in the entire country.

Despite the prestige that may come with such an honor, Skyler appears and acts like most high school freshman, a year or two away from teen idol good looks and easy going enough to call cool.  He and his family hail from Heber and he grew up on the youth soccer and football fields right here in town.  The oldest of four children, Skyler seems very mature and totally at ease when it was suggested to him that he has set the bar pretty high in athletics for his younger siblings.  “Yeah, I guess that’s kind of true,” he modestly shrugs with a smile.  After all, how many high school freshmen earn their entire family a trip to San Antonio, Texas for New Years Eve?  Probably not may, but that is exactly what Skyler has done.

His success this season comes as no surprise to his kicking coach, Idaho State All-American and former NFL placekicker, Dan Zeidman.  The founder of his own camp called Lifetime Kicking Academy, Zeidman knew right away he had something special in Southam.  “Skyler is head and shoulders above where a normal kicker his age would be.  He does possess the natural ability to be a great kicker, but the thing that will take him the farthest is his work ethic,” Zeidman said.  “He is very coachable and a hard worker.  I’m amazed at his demeanor, which is so important to the position.  He has great composure and confidence and as long as he remains the humble young man that he is, he will be very successful.”

Zeidman is an associate of the National Camp Series founded by another former professional kicker, Michael Husted.  Skyler attended two camps in Salt Lake this past year and even traveled to Las Vegas for one… a testament to his dedication to becoming a great kicker.  It was Zeidman, who brought Southam to the attention of Husted, then Husted passing that recommendation on to the selection committee for the All-American team that made Skyler’s selection possible.  Skyler’s accumulative scoring ranked him as the number one specialist in the country for the class of 2016.  Consistent game performances and application on the varsity squad helped provide the icing on the cake for his selection.  Obviously, he is in good hands when it comes to being coached by capable experts and it is his head coach, Steve Coburn who is the recipient of such great individual coaching.  Coburn’s belief and proper handling of the freshman has Wasatch set at kicker for the next three seasons.  If his numbers and confidence are this good already, just think of where they’ll be in a couple of years from now.

While the camps have been paramount in advancing Southam’s kicking abilities, it was apparent early on, especially on the soccer field, that this kid could kick a ball.  “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do on the football field,” Skyler said.  “I play receiver and even some quarterback, but I kind of knew that kicking would be something I’d be good at once I got to the high school level,” he added.  “Coach Coburn believed in me enough to let me get in there a couple of kicks early on and it just kind of became full time.  I never expected to kick for the varsity team, but I’m glad it happened.”  Southam got his chance in the second game of the season on an extra point then a kick-off.  By the third game, the job was his and he didn’t miss an extra point the rest of the way.  He also continued to kick for the freshman team where he nailed a 42-yard field goal against Uintah.

It’s not an easy question for a high school freshman to answer, especially when that question is about the future.  Skyler, who seems pretty content living in the moment, enjoying his first year in high school and still contemplating playing basketball this year, has three more years of kicking for Wasatch.  He has already reached such a high level, yet it’s exciting to wonder what the next few years have in store for him.  “I would love to get a scholarship and kick in Division 1,” he said confidently.  It sure looks like he’s gotten off to an excellent start.