Perry Schmiedeler will put on a specialists camp at WU on June 10, along with Ichabods special teams coordinator Zach Watkins. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics}.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Perry Schmiedeler has long had a passion for special teams, parlaying that dedication into outstanding punting and place-kicking careers at both Washburn Rural and Washburn University.
On June 10 the WU record-setter, along with Washburn special teams coordinator Zach Wakins, will try to lay the groundwork for the success of future specialists in a one-day camp at Yager Stadium and the Washburn Indoor Athletic Facility.
Perry Schmiedeler
Zach Watkins
"I've kind of been doing private lessons the last several years, since I graduated, and I thought it would just be really cool to get a bunch of kids and work with all of them together at the same time,'' said Schmiedeler, who completed his college career in 2018 as the Ichabods' all-time leading kick scorer and No. 2 all-time for punting average.
Schmiedeler said he wants to emphasize the importance of the kicking game to athletes at the middle school and high school level as well as those who aspire to compete at the college level.
"To my knowledge Topeka hasn't really had a kicking camp like this,'' Schmiedeler said. "I do know other universities and colleges around Kansas have them, but never something this local, so I think this will be really cool to get a bunch of local kids together to kick together, but also kids from around the region. We've already had kids from Nebraska and Missouri sign up, so we're looking forward to having a bunch of different kids from around the Midwest really.
"The camp is over for seventh through 12th graders and we've had some middle-schoolers sign up already but we've also have kids in high school going to their junior and senior year who are looking at Division II and Division I colleges.''
Schmiedeler said he thinks it will be an advantage to have athletes at different stages in their careers involved.
"There's going to be a very wide variety of skill levels there but I think that's a really cool opportunity for the young kids to learn from the older kids and for the older kids to learn from the coaches because we're going to have a really good coaching staff there,'' Schmiedeler said.
In addition to himself and Watkins, Schmiedeler, a five-time All-MIAA honoree, hopes to have some current and former WU players to help out at the camp and said the purpose of the camp will be to emphasize all facets of the punting and place-kicking disciplines.
"It takes three positions to make a field goal or an extra point happen so if you don't have a snapper you can't kick an extra point or if you don't have someone who can hold it, and a kicker obviously, you are not able to try extra points,'' Schmiedeler said. "If you can coach just three guys up in those positions then you can get one extra point automatically every time and it shouldn't be a problem.
"We're going to work with all those positions at the camp. We're not just doing kicking and punting, but we're also going to work with long-snappers and we're going to teach the basics of holding to everyone so even if they're not going to be the holder on their team they can go back to their teammates in the fall and teach them the basics of how to hold a football.''
The camp will run from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. on June 10 and anyone interested will have the opportunity to sign up through the day of the camp. The registration fee is $50 per camper in advance and $60 for walk-up registration. Participants can sign up for the specialists camp at wutickets.com. For more information, Watkins can be reached at
"Reigstration is open until June 10th and even then if you haven't signed up, we'll take you at the door,'' said Schmiedeler, second all-time on Washburn's career scoring chart. "We've had a lot of really good response so far and we're still over a month out, so there's only room to grow from here.
"We're pretty happy with where we are now and can only keep going up from here.''
