Hi, I'm Katie Lindsay, the kicker for the state champions, class 1A, Van Meter Bulldogs - Class of 2024
I grew up in Minnesota playing soccer for fun, eventually joining a club team where I made many friends, had great experiences and made lasting memories! It was hard to leave that all behind when my family moved to Van Meter, Iowa where I began my 6th grade year. However, I soon learned that Van Meter High School was planning on establishing their first ever girls high school soccer team in 2020/2021, my freshman year!
As a freshman, I started on the varsity soccer team as center back and was responsible for taking corner kicks, direct kicks, and goal kicks. This is what drew the attention of my science teacher, who went to almost all of our games. He jokingly asked if I was going to tryout for football that year. I laughed and said, “Why not?”.
Later that spring there was a meeting for anyone who was interested in playing football. I decided to attend, even without ever kicking a football before. I talked to the coach after the meeting to let him know that I was serious about joining the team, he was excited and he had a smile on his face the whole time.
I went to a couple camps the summer before my first football season started and was even more excited after hitting a 40-yard field goal! I earned the spot of first team PAT and field goal kicker for the Van Meter Bulldogs varsity football team my first year out as a sophomore. As the season went on, I fell more and more in love with the sport, gaining confidence from my coaches, teammates, and spectators.
In our final championship game of my sophomore year, my second (27-yard) field goal turned out to be the few points needed to win the 1A state championship title! My team and I continued our success with a back-to-back class 1A state championship title my junior year!
Overall, at the end of my first season, I was 73/76 for PATs and 2/2 for field goals. I completed my second season going 77/82 PATs and 1/1 field goals. Ranking me second in the state of Iowa for most PATs made both years! I have been attending several college camps, across multiple states, to continue to learn and improve in hopes of doing what I have come to love at the college level.