The Advance

Issue date: 10/6/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: James Rivers Anthony Padilla on the soccer field.

For most of the student athletes on the KWU campus, the act of juggling school and sport has become more of an art form.
This semester no student athlete has perfected that art better than Anthony Padilla. Besides being the starting right back for the nation's twenty-fifth ranked men's soccer team, Padilla is also the kicker for the nation's twelfth ranked football team.
"Playing both football and soccer isn't new to me; I played both in high school," Padilla said. "However, playing both at the same time is new because in high school it was soccer season after football," Padilla continued.
For the last three weeks Padilla has gone into the football game after playing a soccer game earlier in the day. Two weeks ago, Padilla's field goal was the only points KWU's football team scored in a three to zero homecoming victory over Saint Mary College.
"It still hasn't hit me that my kick helped win the game," Padilla said. "The coaches put me on the spot.I was expecting to handle kickoffs that night and at the time the coaches were calling for me to kick the field goal. I was on the sideline looking for the kick off tee."
Padilla attended Don Lugo High School in Chino, Calif., where he handled all the kicking duties and was the team's free safety on defense. When being recruited by KWU for soccer, Padilla expressed an interest in playing football.
After week one of the football season, Padilla was asked to come out and show the football coaches what he can do. Padilla has been using his leg to kick two different shaped balls in two different sports ever since.
"For me the biggest challenge is succeeding in both sports," Padilla said.
So far Padilla and both of his teams have been succeeding with both teams being ranked in the NAIA's top twenty-five polls.
Padilla's defense in soccer has helped KWU's soccer team to six shut-out victories. On the football field, Padilla has one game-winning field goal and a number of deep kickoffs, many of which have been downed in the end zone by opponents return men.
Last week Padilla played in a home soccer game and was unsure if he would make it on time to the football game two and half hours away in Ottawa.
After the first fifteen minutes of the soccer game his team was winning by a score of three to zero.
With the permission of his soccer coach, Padilla hopped in a school van along with a football coach who stayed behind the rest of the football team in case the opportunity came up for an early Padilla departure.
Padilla made it to the football game just as Justin Schropp was running for his first of three rushing touchdowns. This was perfect timing for Padilla and the rest of the KWU football team because the first kickoff of the night for the Coyotes came after that first touchdown.
"I enjoy playing both sports." Padilla said. "I don't have any personal goals; I just want to help both teams as much as possible, and, at the end of the season, I hope to have two rings on my hand."

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