Punt, Pass & Kick

Young football lovers, this is for you! Punt, Pass & Kick (PPK USA), is a free skills competition for girls and boys ages 6-15. PPK USA is the only youth football skills challenge competition that hosts a National Finals Event. Categories include punting, passing, kicking, running, and broad jumping skills.

There are two competitions held during this yearly event: local events and a national championship. At the local level, these community competitions are held nationwide from August until October. The top two scorers in each local age group, both individual skills and overall totals, advance to the National Finals event for the National Championship. The National Finals event is held either the last Saturday of January or the first Saturday in February each year. Location varies depending on the facilities.

To compete, parents or guardians must register their children for the local event through the PPK USA website and show proof of age on the day of the event. Currently, Midway Elementary School offers a closed event, meaning participants must attend Midway to participate. Thanks to Laura Gates, a PE teacher at Midway, and the support of school leadership, Midway currently has over 300 students competing in the event. One of them, 4th grader Porter Temple, received first place for the entire 4th-grade boys’ class. He attended the National Finals event in Las Vegas and placed 1st in three of the five events and 2nd overall.

“I enjoyed the thrill of being on a large football field, surrounded by mountains and a crowd of people watching me compete in five different events with kids from all over the US,” says Porter. “I was able to meet and compete against a lot of great kids and will hopefully have the opportunity to see some of them again next year at the National Finals in McAllen, TX.” Porter will compete in a district finals PPK USA competition at Lexington High School’s Wildcat Stadium on May 17th at 5:30 pm. The event is open to the community and is a great way to see what PPK USA is about.

These events require support to be successful, schools or hosts of the event need volunteers to help run the various stations. Jacob Smith, principal at River Bluff High School, recruits his football players to help run the stations for Midway’s event. The high school football team volunteering helps build experience for the football players and encourages the students participating in PPK USA by having role models to look up to. Not only are volunteers needed, but having schools offer this event would give more children the opportunity to participate. If you would like your child to participate in PPK USA, check out their website at ppkusa.com to register or apply to host an event.