Punt, pass and kick (PP&K) is a skills competition offered by the National Football League and designed for youths aged 6 to 15.
Contents
Overview
PP&K began in 1961 and at one time, event highlights were shown by CBS Sports as part of its NFL coverage. The contest received renewed attention in 1995 when Kendra Wecker, a 12-year-old girl from Kansas, made the finals in her age group and competed on an equal basis with male competitors. Wecker would later become an All-American in basketball at Kansas State University and formerly played in the Women's National Basketball Association. (She formerly played forward for the San Antonio Silver Stars and Washington Mystics) PP&K now offers separate competition for boys and girls in five different age groups.
Winners in each age group are determined by the total distance of their punts, passes, and kicks, as the name implies. The national finals competition involves one contestant from each age group sponsored by each of the NFL's 32 teams. Those contestants have already won local and sectional qualifiers to advance to that point.
The finalists are announced during a commercial break during the NFL playoffs each year.
Famous competitors include:
Scoring
Every contestant is allowed one punt, pass, and kick in this competition. Scoring is based on both distance and accuracy. Scores are also determined from where a contestant's ball first makes contact with the ground, therefore excluding any bounces or rolls to the distance. If a contestant passes their ball 100 feet (30.5 m), but the ball is wide of the measuring tape by 30 feet (9.1 m), their final score for passing would be 70; the score is the difference of the two measures, testing the contestant's ability to throw for distance and accuracy. The distances of the balls are measured to the exact foot and rounded to the nearest inch. A person cannot get lower than a score of 0. A participant's final score is the total of the three events (Punt, Pass, and Kick). In such a case where a participant scores 40 for punting, 60 for passing and 22 for kicking, the participant's final score would be 122.
Tie-breaking procedure
In the event of a tie for first, second, or third place at a local or sectional event, each participant that is tied will compete in a playoff to determine the final standings. In a playoff, everyone involved will compete head-to-head again in all three events. The playoff winner at a local competition advances to the next round. The playoff winner at a sectional round advances to the team championships. During the team championships the tie-breaker for all places would be the contestant's score in his or her last competition. For example, if a tie exists during the team championship, the participant's sectional round score would determine who the winner is.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this competition you have to be ages 6–15. All boys and girls are allowed and they will compete separately. The participant will participate in appropriate age group. The competition is free of charges. A contestant will need to show proof of age in order to get in the competition. A child can only register at one local competition and must fill out an entry form online or submit it to the on-site organizational group. The first female to ever compete with the boys in this arena was Criss Fraser from Birmingham, Alabama. She beat out all the 11 year old boys at the local competition in Gardendale, Alabama. Moving on to district competition. The Birmingham News and area North Jefferson News covered the story in their publications.