Against all odds, soccer player and coach Joseph Panuccio achieved his professional sports dream as a kicker for American Indoor Football's Harrisburg Stampede.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Cumberland County native is using his kicking skills to make his professional sports dreams come true in a sport he never imagined he would play.
Joseph Panuccio is the kicker for the Harrisburg Stampede. The Harrisburg Stampede is a professional indoor football team that returned this year for the first time in 10 years with the relaunch of American Indoor Football (AIF).
But his journey as a Mechanicsburg-area high school and soccer clinic coach by day and a pro football kicker by night was an unconventional one.
“It started as just an idea,” Panuccio recalls. “And then it just fell into my lap.”
Panuccio's dream had always been to play professional sports, but ever since his father gave him a soccer ball as a gift for his first birthday, he thought his professional career would be on a soccer field rather than on a soccer field.
It was a professional soccer path that Panuccio seemed destined to take. He started playing soccer at the age of four and quickly rose through the ranks.
He played at the club level in his youth, including a time when he was teammates with current U.S. soccer superstar Christian Pulisic.
He continued his journey at Mechanicsburg Regional High School and had the opportunity to play two years of NCAA D1 soccer at Rider University. He then graduated from East Stroudsburg University where he played DII soccer for two years, where he was named All-The-World. He is in the PSAC He 1st team as a midfielder.
His dream came closer and closer to reality when he was given the opportunity to make the leap to the professional level abroad in Belarus.
But after a short stay, the journey was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He went home and asked himself, “What next?”
It wasn't until what seemed like a typical night, when he turned his attention to the sport he loved, shooting soccer balls with his brother, that his brother suggested, “Maybe I should just walk away.'' I was asked an unusual question.of [Philadelphia] Eagles?
It was a question that most people would laugh at.
But Panuccio took it as a challenge.
“I love chasing goals, so the day I set this as my goal, [I told myself]”I'm going to work hard at this, and I'm going to be the best version of myself that I can be at this,” Panuccio said. “That night, I bought three soccer balls and a tee shirt on Amazon. So I grabbed a stand and started training hard. I didn't know what I was training for. I didn't know how I was going to get into the Eagles, but I was training. ”
From that night on, Panuccio was determined to make his new dream a reality. He and his brother spent hours honing and testing their soccer kicking techniques. They watched dozens of football games together and analyzed kickers from the AFL, IFL, AIF, and other leagues for which footage was available.
One thing was clear to Panuccio. “In soccer, you have to be accurate and accurate to get the data. In soccer, it's like a feel-good test,” Panuccio said. “I realized that in soccer, it's better to be more mechanical and precise than the soccer side.”
If they lock down the technique…
“Two steps back, one step back, then two steps to the left, making sure to touch your feet between each step,” Panuccio said of the routine.
…It was all about playing a completely different sport, practicing on a different ball, a different field, and using familiar kicking skills that didn't feel any different.
“It was strangely familiar. So the moment I kicked it, I knew right away that I had it, that I had something special, and that I needed to run with it. I get it,” Panuccio said.
They say timing is everything, because that's when the Harrisburg Stampede opportunity arose. The professional indoor football team returned, and Panuccio had a month to prepare for tryouts.
“i got you [out] “I was going up against an arena football kicker who had played professionally and played at a high level in the past, and I was unfazed,” Panuccio said. I knew that if I trusted God and trusted myself, I would be okay. ”
That might be an understatement, because when the tryout came, all it took was the sound of a football kicking off Panuccio's foot to make Stampede coaches turn their heads.
“When I turned my back, I heard the kick, and I turned around and looked and saw where it was, and I looked back and it was Joe,” Harrisburg Stampede head coach Bernie Nowotarski said. That kid can kick.''
Against all odds, Panuccio won the kicking job despite kicking a soccer ball for the first time just a month ago.
Last Saturday, he hit his first field goal in the first football game of his career, professional or otherwise, with his family fully supporting him in his new journey.
“They've been incredibly supportive of this. They've never seen a football game, but they said they love the game,” Panuccio said. “I blacked out during that field goal. I knew I had to get it done.”
He knows he must continue to perfect this job for his teammates and coaches, who have already given him so much.
“This team is great. The culture is great. The coaches are great. The players are great,” Coach Panuccio said. “Coming into the world of soccer, I didn't know what to expect, but they've been so supportive and loving. I'm so grateful to be a part of this team. My first time playing soccer. As an experience, I feel lucky and blessed.''
His coaches and teammates also feel lucky to have a former soccer player on their side.
“Seeing his success, enjoying it and being a teammate like him fits perfectly into our mold here. I'm excited for him,” Nowotarski said. said.
But Panuccio says there's still a lot to learn, work on and get used to. The pads he must wear for the new sport he now plays reflects this.
“I was walking around the house with my pads and helmet on,” Panuccio said. “I wore a helmet and pads, and I also wore them in everyday life to get used to the environment.”
Panuccio always had the spirit of giving his all to achieve his goals, and that still makes him one of the best players to kick the ball. This time, the shape is a little different.
“Of course football will always have a special place in my heart, but right now all I can think about is football. In the near future, my passion and all my focus and motivation will be football. ,” Panuccio said. . “My first goal is to win a championship with this team. My long-term goal is to move to a higher level, such as the CFL, UFL or NFL.”
A goal may seem unlikely for the soccer player turned professional kicker, but that's what Panuccio's journey is all about. Contrary to expectations. For him, why stop now?
“Sometimes you don't know how you're going to get there,” Panuccio said. “But believe in yourself and be open to the doors that will open.”
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