Unsung Hero: Boys Soccer Ryan O'Hara Doubles as Team Captain and Football Kicker

At some school districts, what we're about to tell you is unheard of. However, having a soccer player also do the kicking for the football team is not uncommon for Spring-Ford. As a matter of fact, boys soccer head coach Doug Landis said he's had three or four of his players do just that.

So, this year is no different. Senior defender and captain Ryan O'Hara also does the kicking for the Rams football squad.

"His loyalties lie with soccer first," Landis said. "I want to see him succeed as a soccer player and also a football player. Soccer players and kickers in football are very similar and can be very successful. I’m not going to hold the football team back from having a great kicker. We do have some conflicts and obviously soccer comes first, but when there are no conflicts, he has a great opportunity to go kick the football."

O'Hara said he got started kicking by just fooling around with some friends, realizing he could hit field goals from 45-50 yards out. He then did some work with former Penn State kicker Kevin Kelley this past summer. Kelley said there could be opportunities for O'Hara at the college level.

"It was more of a novelty to me at first, but it’s something I actually want to do now in college," said O'Hara, who is in his first year of kicking, but last year of high school. "I always talk to the special teams coaches and whenever they need me they call me up after soccer. It’s not that hard to manage my time, but just being there makes it great."

However, football isn't the only reason Landis nominated O'Hara for the award.

"The reason I chose Ryan is because he’s played defense all four years he’s been here at Spring-Ford," Landis said. "He’s not in the headlines every day because he’s not scoring goals every day. Last year, he scored one goal. He still remembers that moment every day at every practice, because that was a big event for him.

"The reason I picked him is because the kids chose him to be the captain. I do my own selections and then the kids choose the captains. The kids have tremendous respect for Ryan, so they decided he should be one of our leaders. He’s the leader of the defense, the leader of our team and I think he’s going to be the key for our success this year in the back."

The boys picked up their first win of the season this week after a 0-2-1 start. O'Hara hopes his leadership will continue the path to success.

"[Being selected the unsung hero] is a great honor," O'Hara said. "Now that I’m a senior on the team I see myself as a leader. I’m a bigger voice now. All these kids look up to us."