Futbol or Football? Either Way It Spelled Scholarship for Diamond Ranch Kicker

He admits he’s lived the life of a rock star: the plane-hopping, fancy hotels and exotic locales, all because he could kick a ball. Brazil, England, Germany, Sweden, Denmark – all his playground for the sport the rest of the world calls futbol.

But when he’s home, it’s football. In truth, he said, it’s always been football – and the life of an American teenager. And that’s what eventually led Jeff Stamp to choose football over, er, soccer.

While Stamp may have gotten his kicks playing soccer, his ability to boot a football was his ticket to a scholarship and college kicking career.

senior recently accepted a football scholarship to Ottawa University in Kansas, where he will kick and punt for the Braves.

Stamp has played in two CIF finals and holds the school record for most touchbacks in a game with seven. On top of that, he has been an All-Hacienda League and All-CIF selection at kicker, all while maintaining a 3.6 grade-point average.

 “I’m excited to go out there. It’s weird to think that I’m going to go play football,” Stamp said. “But if somebody’s giving me a scholarship, I must be doing OK. I guess I knew it would always be football.”

How he knew is a mystery.

Stamp was playing soccer before he started Kindergarten. As recently as his junior year, he was splitting time between the U.S. Olympic Development soccer team, the Los Angeles Galaxy Developmental team and Panthers football.

Yes, he’s that good on the pitch. First a forward and later a goalie, Stamp’s soccer talent took him all over the world as a teenager.

It started simply enough, with top AYSO, Spring Select, and Legends Premier Team soccer as well as travel teams. His hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm for the sport took him overseas where Stamp eventually earned a spot on the Cal South Olympic Development Program (ODP) and was signed by the LA Galaxy Academy U16 team, based in Carson.

Stamp laughed when he referred to his own personal “ADD,” saying he could never focus on one thing as a kid and rarely, if ever, took things too seriously.

“I never had an idea of what I wanted to play,” Stamp said. “Even in soccer, I used to play forward, then I played goalie. I’m very spontaneous. I like to have fun and be in the moment. I want to be both places at once."

And soccer had afforded Stamp a glimpse into playing professionally.

“Traveling with soccer, we had that rock star kind of thing," Stamp said, "a professional kind of life.”

His outlook was profoundly changed after a soccer trip to a very poor area of Brazil. He was stunned when told that some of the kids he was competing against didn’t even get fed every day. 

After the trip, Stamp arrived home with an empty suitcase and a full heart. This was where he saw the impact sport can have on teenagers, just like him.

“At 13, you’re just thinking about what’s on TV next, and you see kids just trying to survive. Not every day is a gift to them,” Stamp said. “They’re just trying to do everything they can just to try to make it. It’s crazy when you think about it.”

The Brazilian futbol club provided its team with bananas and tea. That was it.

“You come back with a lot more insight,” Stamp said. “I came back empty-handed. I left all my soccer stuff, all my clothes. I traded with the kids and left them things. I came back without a suitcase."

The impact of the trip still sticks in the back of his mind.

“I see it every day (in my mind) and go back to there and think of everything I got out of that trip."

When Stamp got to Diamond Ranch, he thought his skills as a soccer player could be a plus for the football team. He played both soccer and football throughout his entire high school years —many times with practices in both sports on the same day, changing in his truck.

“I knew football would be my area, even though I never took football seriously,even on my recruiting trips.” Stamp said. “ But what they (Ottowa) put together was amazing. It was a gracious offer. Then I knew it was getting serious.”

Stamp will leave for Kansas in August. Should he miss soccer, Stamp said he can still get together with the Ottowa soccer team for a “fun” workout.