Glasson teenager kicks his wayto Chicago!

How did you spend your 17th birthday? If Glasson's TJ Elliott is ever asked that question, he will have an impressive answer at the ready.

The Marist College student turned 17 on Saturday, August 29, and that evening he stepped onto the field at Dublin's Aviva Stadium and kicked an American football between the posts from 50 yards in front of some 40,000 fans who were attending the college football game between the University of North Carolina and Texas Christian University.

TJ was taking part in the final of a half-time 'Ireland's Kicking King' competition. He and the other 19 finalists had just one kick, in the drizzling rain, and by nailing it he became one of ten winners of the competition.

His prize is a first-ever trip to the United States in November, where he and the other winners will have a chance to kick at half-time during a college football game in Chicago.

The success also edged the Tubberclair GAA minor team's goalkeeper a little closer to achieving his ambition of earning a scholarship as a kicker with an American college football team.

“It's crazy. I've always wanted to go to America,” said TJ, when asked about his success in the competition.

“The biggest crowd I ever would have played in front of is probably not more than 100. So stepping out in front of 40,000 people at the Aviva Stadium was a big change!

“But I just zoned out (and focused on the kick). I didn't listen to anything else, because I knew I could do it - I had made a 50-yard kick before.”

TJ, who has just started fifth year in the Marist College, is a son of Brigit and John Elliott, from Killinure in Glasson, and has a younger brother, James (14).

In recent years a number of former Irish rugby or gaelic football players have transitioned to becoming American football kickers, most notably Charlie Smyth from Down who made a number of first-team appearances last year with the NFL's New Orleans Saints.

It was a documentary on this phenomenon, called Punt: The Irish & the NFL which first piqued TJ’s interest.

“I would have watched the Superbowl a few times, but it never crossed my mind to be a American football kicker until my Dad showed me the Punt documentary,” he said.

“After that, I saw there was an open camp and trials in October, in Kilternan in Dublin, and we decided to go to it to see what it was all about.”

After taking part in a number of open trials, he was invited this year to join a training programme with Leader Kicking, which was founded by rugby players Tadhg and Darragh Leader with the goal of providing a pathway for aspiring Irish athletes to secure college scholarships to as kickers with US college football teams.

TJ said being invited to join the Leader Kicking programme was a vote of confidence in his potential.

“They said that I improved a lot in the open camps. I won kicking competitions against adults, so they felt that I could be good at this.

“The training is twice a week in Dublin. There’s loads of other guys taking part who would be a lot older than me - I think I was the youngest there. They record your kicks in training and give you one-to-one feedback.”

TJ said the experience of kicking an American football is very different to that of kicking a gaelic football.

“The ball is a lot harder. When I first went up in October my foot was sore from kicking it, because it’s a really hard ball,” he said.

“You have to hit it in the middle of the ball - the sweet spot is the fat bit in the middle - whereas a gaelic football is round, and wherever you kick it the flight will be the same.

“The American football doesn’t travel as far, and the flight path of the ball is very different.”

TJ earned his place in the half-time contest at the Aviva Stadium after taking part in various heats around Ireland. He won't be sitting his Leaving Cert until 2028, but he hopes that at the end of secondary school he’ll be in a position to earn a place as a college football kicker in the US.

“That's the aim, definitely. I really want to do it,” he said.

Darragh Leader, of Leader Kicking, praised TJ’s commitment and spoke about how his kicking has been developing well over recent months.

“TJ went to the Gaeltacht for a bit during the summer, and somehow when he came back he was much better than before he left,” said Darragh. “He must have been training by himself. He's doing very well.”

Darragh said securing a US college scholarship is not easy, but some recent successes have led to American coaches becoming a bit more open to bringing in an Irish kicker.

“If someone goes for the full four or five years, these college scholarships can be a very valuable thing to get.

“The plan for (TJ) is just to keep training, and then as the process goes on, when you get closer to finishing school, you'd hope that teams would be reaching out to you and trying to sign you.

“If he's kicking well, and meeting the kinds of standards that he needs to get to, then coaches will generally be interested,” said Darragh.

“Film review is huge. We literally film every kick the lads take and watch it back to see what they can improve on.”

Darragh added that TJ’s kick on the big stage at the Aviva Stadium bodes well for the future.

“It was massive for him. He was kicking against guys who were a couple of years older than him, and the fact that he went out there and confidently banged the ball over in his first time kicking in front of any crowd of note, in the rain, with cameras all around the place... the pressure on him was pretty high.

“You could tell he was focused and locked-in. The camera crew were loving him, and if there was one player everyone wanted to score it was TJ. It was great to see him perform under the pressure,” he added.