Canadian Kicker shines at the 2nd Annual Top Tier All American Minnesota Kicking Camp & Tryout
No
one saw him coming down from the Canadian border. A highly ranked
Canadian soccer player named Nathan Mesher snuck up on the American
counterparts for the 2nd
annual Top Tier All American Minnesota Tryout and Kicking Camp at the University of Minnesota on June 1-2, 2013. Nathan, a
neophyte to American Football kicking and punting, shined during the two
day competitions that involved testing every type of kick and punt used
in football situations.
Nathan
Mesher, a Canadian American (originally from Wisconsin), has lived in
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada for 15 years and has played soccer for the
national powerhouse Toronto Lynx Soccer club, the last 4 years. Nathan won awards for the “Best Place Kicker for rising 12th graders” as well as “Best Punter for Rising 12th
graders.” Nathan went 9 for 10 on Field Goals and averaged a camp best
41.1 yard punt average with a 3.75 hang time average, earning him the
nod as the Best All Around Specialist at the camp.
Another surprising stellar performance came from a rising 10th
grader from St. Thomas Academy named Mac Brown who swept the
underclassmen awards with “Best Placekicker, Best Punter and Best
Kickoff Kicker” for rising 10th graders and he was the Best Overall Kicker for all grades in the specialty kicks tests.
Three
other rising 12th graders that performed well overall were Alex
MacGregor of Zimmerman HS who ranked as the 2nd overall top specialists
(behind Nathan Mesher) and George Hottinger, punter from Cretin Derham
Hall HS, who displayed a very strong punting leg which hang time
averages above 3.75 seconds. The top snapper at the camp was Alex Dequaine, from St Francis
HS, who displayed many accurate
short and long snaps.
Two
kickers from the Class of 2015, Stuart Hamann (Lakeville North HS) and
Charles Stejskal (Annandale HS), showed strong kicking abilities that
competed closely with the upperclassmen.
Top
Tier All American Tryouts and Camps put on camps for kickers, punters
and long snappers in which they are evaluated using the KIX system
designed by the National Camp Series where they
get national ranking on the National Camp Series web site. They are
also given a second day of testing other specialty kicks not tested by
anyone else including onside kicking, pressure place kicking, and a
variety of specialized punts often done in game situations. The final
product of the two days of testing results in a “Top Tier Watch List” of
the top specialists for potential selection to the “Top Tier All
American Winners” list. The Top All American finalists are determined
solely by their performance during the 2013 football season.
The Top Tier All American Camps have 2 more remaining camps:
Camp 1: June 1st and 2nd, 2013 at the University of St Thomas in St Paul, MN.
Camp 2: June 22nd and 23rd, 2013 at the Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs, CO.
Camp 3: July 27th and 28th, 2012 at the Carrollwood Day School in Tampa, FL
For more information or to sign up for the upcoming camps, visit: www.TopTierAllAmerican.com or contact: Tom Feely (Tom@FeelyAthletics) and Chris Husby (CoachHusby@gmail.com)
