Federal Way second grader excels in NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competition

Published 9:00 am Saturday, November 21, 2015

A Federal Way second-grader has been channeling his inner Steven Hauschka, Russell Wilson and Jon Ryan as he recently dominated the competition in the NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competition.

Patrick Fleming, 7, was recently announced as one of the top four competitors from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana in his age group.

The Christian Faith School student will have the opportunity to win the region and possibly represent the Seattle Seahawks in the national competition if he wins the next phase of the competition.

Patrick’s mother, Staci Ansotigue, was the first person to suggest that he participate in the competition.

“I just tried it out and then I liked it,” Patrick said. “I kept on winning it and kept on going.”

“He didn’t really know much going into it,” Staci Ansotigue said. “This is his second year. The first year, we went for soccer and he saw it and said let’s try it out, let’s do football too. He’s never played on a team or anything before. He tried it and he finished third. So we tried it again this year.”

Participants compete to have the furthest total distance between the punting, passing and kicking events. The total distance is based on both accuracy and distance in feet and inches. If a contestant throws the ball 50 feet, but throws the ball 10 feet to the side of the measuring tape, their score is 40 feet.

The city of Kent competition on Sept. 14 was the first stop for Patrick this year. He excelled that day, finishing with a total distance of 149 feet 9 inches. Second place finished with a total distance of 73 feet 1 inch.

The results were not instant for Patrick. His grandfather, John Ansotigue, says they followed the advice of Patrick’s favorite player, Russell Wilson.

“The preparation creates separation,” John Ansotigue said. “Last year his tee kick, with no preparation, was 8 feet. This year, he kicked 53 feet off the tee. We just practiced. Good practice creates good results.”

Patrick practices with his grandfather every other day. He decided that he wanted to get better and took up practicing each of the events.

“My favorite is punting,” Patrick said. “I like being able to kick the ball really far. It’s easier than passing and [kicking]. That’s why I like it the most.”

His hard work paid off with his second win of the year in the sectional competition held in Kent on Oct. 25. Competitor locations ranged from Federal Way to the Canadian border.

He won the event by 20 feet. It was held outdoors in rainy conditions. He and his family waited, hoping that the rain had not cost him a chance at competing at the Seahawks Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

They had to wait for the results of 10 other sectional competitions across the four states. On Nov. 11, they finally received word that he did have one of the top four distances.

“I felt OK,” said Patrick when asked about how it felt to make it. He then changed his answer to “very good” while giving a thumbs up sign. His mother then stated that he was downplaying his excitement.

“It’s been fun watching him,” said John Ansotigue. “As long as he’s having fun doing it, we’ll keep doing it. It’s all dependent on him. We won’t push any agenda. We want him to take it as far as he wants to take it.”

Patrick is hoping to meet some of his favorite players like Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Bobby Wagner, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and KJ Wright when he goes to the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

If he is able to win the competition, he will get a sideline experience at an upcoming Seahawks game as well as a possible opportunity to represent the team in the national competition, depending on his distance.

“I would be 1,000 times a million excited [to go to the game],” Patrick said.

“He’s a huge football fanatic,” his mother said. “He just keeps winning and having fun. We’re proud of him.”

When he’s not practicing for the competition, Patrick likes watching sports and playing his sports video games.

His favorite sport is baseball and he is also a soccer fan. Along with Wilson, Clint Dempsey tops his favorite athletes list.

Wilson topped his favorite player list because “he’s nice, he’s good at football and he’s good at throwing.”

Patrick will compete alongside three other children in his age group at the Seahawks Virginia Mason Athletic Center practice facility on Nov. 28.