How ALA Queen Creek's Sam Hunsaker went from soccer in Germany to maybe AZ's top HS kicker
Sam Hunsaker's passion ran deep in soccer since he was seven, taking him to Costa Rica and Germany to play on teams, to dreaming of World Cups in his future.
But a chance meeting at church last summer with American Leadership Queen Creek football coach Ty Detmer changed his path.
The family had an older son who had played for Detmer at ALA.
"We did not talk about Sam and football at all," said Lalani Hunsaker, Sam's mom. "It was just simple pleasantries. 'Hi, how's it going?' We just caught up.
"Later on, during the church service, I was thinking, 'Sam needs to go play football for Ty.' When I got home, I said, 'Hey, Sam, I had a good feeling at church.' Sam said, 'I do, too.' "
Sam never kicked a football. It was soccer his whole life. But ALA Queen Creek didn't have a true kicker. Lalani reached out to Detmer and asked, 'How do you feel about a soccer player kicker?'
"He said, 'We don't know if he can kick.' "
Hunsaker's kicker tryout
Hunsaker did a tryout at the school.
"I said, 'Have you ever kicked before?' Detmer said. "He said, 'Well, I fooled around in PE one time.' I thought, 'Oh boy, here we go.' I had him kick into a soccer net. I was holding the ball. It sounded like he was hitting it pretty good.
"So we got to the goal posts, kicked a few extra points. It was flying through pretty good. I kept moving back. He was like four for five from 30, four for five from 40. We got to 45, and he was three for four. I was like, 'All right, your soccer career is over.' "
In his first year ever playing football, Hunsaker has connected on 10 of 11 field goal tries this season with his longest being from 50 yards. He has also made field goals from 47, 44 and 43 yards. He's connected on all 38 of his points after touchdowns. Fourteen of his kickoffs were driven into the end zone.
Now, with the Patriots moving onto the Open Division state playoffs next week to face defending champion Chandler Basha in the first round, Hunsaker has emerged as arguably the state's top high school kicker and soccer is way in his rear-view mirror.
Committing to football
"I was still going to do soccer," Hunsaker said. "I was going to do 50-50. Basically, just show up for the games in football. But after camp, Coach Detmer had given us a talk at the end of it about being all in. After that, it really hit me that I need to be with this team 100%. I felt they deserved it."
The biggest adjustment he said was learning the football rules.
"Other than that, it hasn't been a big surprise, because of my background," he said. "In the beginning, it came natural to me."
More AIA football news: Arizona high school football playoffs schedule, The Republic's picks
Hunsaker said he is 100% all in with football moving beyond high school. He said Northern Arizona has shown the most interest in him as a kicker.
This a complete reverse from a year ago when he was living in Germany and kicking soccer balls filled his days.
"I know that it is pretty common for soccer players to become kickers," Lalani said. "But he isn’t your average soccer player."
Soccer path to become a pro
No, he started soccer at 3, became a competitive player at 7. He played for AZSC, Legacy and Real Salt Lake. He played in the Olympic Development Program every year that he tried out and went to their state and regional camp. He played DA and MLS Next, as well as playing on the Academy Team for Barca Academy in Casa Grande.
When he was 15, playing for Barca, his mom said Yan Skwara, the commissioner for the United Premier Soccer League -- a United States soccer semi-pro or third-tier platform -- scouted him. He tried out and played for the Olympians and FC Arizona before he was asked to try out to see how he stacked up against pro players in Central America.In January of his sophomore year, he was flown to San Jose Costa Rica and tried out and made the first team or second division pro team called Barrio Mexico, Lalani said.
"We didn’t want to lose potential eligibility so he played for free and on an academy contract and only in scrimmage games until their season ended in May with an invitation to return in July," she said.
Hunsaker's journey to Europe
Hunsaker returned home to play for Real Salt Lake in the summer, during which he was connected with scouts for FC Schalke in Germany. He sent film, did a Google Meet interview. They liked what they saw. And, at 16, holding only a U.S. passport, he had little options playing in Europe. He was found a place on the Under-18 integrated team, which made it legal to play in Europe and wouldn't jeopardize his NCAA eligibility in the United States. But his plan wasn't to play in college. It was always to go pro, Lalani said.
In August 2022, Hunsaker moved to Germany alone to start his junior year of high school at the age of 16. He lived on Schalke's campus with roommates, while taking online classes with American Leadership Academy Virtual. He played against U19 academy teams until May. His last game was in Munich. He had good interest, and he was planning to return after summer break.
That is when fate intervened with the chance LDS church meeting with Detmer, who knew the family through the older son, who only played football at ALA Queen Creek his senior year as a defensive lineman.
"We said hello to him at church, he asked about Sam’s brother and we went about our Sunday," Lalani said. "But during church both Sam and I had a feeling we couldn’t shake. Samuel should go and kick for ALA QC and Ty. My husband thought we were both insane because Samuel was a soccer player on a path to play professionally. We had been working toward this his entire life. He isn’t a football player. He isn’t a kicker. But neither of us could shake the feeling. It was pretty much felt like divine intervention."
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How elite soccer player turned into top HS football kicker in Arizona
