13-year-old is kicking his way to the top

Christian VanSickle has never played a snap of high school football. The 13-year old Marvin Ridge middle school kicker won’t do so until next fall.

But VanSickle, an eighth-grader, has earned the opportunity to play on a national stage. He was selected to the 2013 East Bay Youth All-American Bowl all-star team, which was recently played in the Alamodome in San Antonio.

VanSickle has had a strong season. He went 33-for-33 on extra points this year – booting 11 touchbacks on kickoffs – and made a 27-yard field goal in his team’s playoff game against Sun Valley. VanSickle was a big part of Kent Jones’ Maverick eighth-grade team that went 7-2 and made the Union County middle school semifinals.

Of course, that is just a small sample of what Christian VanSickle does; he also played for the Football University (FBU) all-star team, which features some of the best players from the Charlotte area and competes on a national level. His FBU team made it to the Sweet 16 last month before losing to North Georgia.

VanSickle also is standout soccer player. He plays center back for his U14 Charlotte Soccer Academy team year-round.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of success so far, but I’m not overconfident about it,” VanSickle said. “I still haven’t really accomplished anything I want to do ... and so I don’t talk about things a lot. I just go out and do it.”

Christian VanSickle gets a lot of humble approach from his older brother, Jackson, who just finished his sophomore year at Marvin Ridge. Jackson started at punter for the Mavericks’ varsity team and was the starting kicker when Tyler Cochran went down with an injury.

Christian has a lot to live up to as Jackson, 15, is also already ranked among the top kickers in the country – No. 7 in his class (2015), according to national kicking guru, Chris Sailer.

Jackson and Christian train with each other and their father, Eric, as well as working with the former North Carolina and NFL (Minnesota Vikings) kicker, Dan Orner, who trains some of the best kickers in the country.

Orner says both VanSickles have potential to be major college kickers. He recently compared the duo to another pair of brothers (and his former students), Casey and Connor Barth. Casey is an all-ACC kicker at the University of North Carolina; Connor is kicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“It’s definitely an honor to be compared to the Barth brothers, because they are obviously very great kickers,” Christian VanSickle said. “It makes me feel good, but I can’t take anything for granted right now.”

Christian hopes to get his Marvin Ridge high school career started this fall, when he might have to play junior varsity.

Christian says if he can compete with his older brother, then he is headed in the right direction.

While his potential is great, Christian is just focusing on process for now, one step at a time.

“I’m really looking forward to playing high school football, ” Christian said. “To be able go out there and play for my school on Friday nights is something I’ve wanted to doing for a long time.”