Courtesy of Victor Mancuso

Mancuso boots the kickoff against Overfelt on Sept 12.

The crowd roared as the Falcons scored a touchdown under the lights of Benny Pierce Field three years ago. Up next was an inexperienced freshman kicker attempting the point after. 

Victor Mancuso, now a junior, fell into the role because former head coach Stephen Matos had few other options. His best hope was to turn to Mancuso, who had only played soccer in middle school and had never played the sport. 

Mancuso’s first PAT failed, going just low to the left.

“I can still picture the miss perfectly,” Mancuso said. “It felt like a slap on the face because I thought I was ready.”

Mancuso played the first three games as a part of the varsity team but ran into struggles. For the rest of the season, he played for the JV team as he attempted to learn his role.

In the years since, he has made a strong effort to improve his kicking skills, and those efforts have paid off more each year. He has mainly specialized in PATs and kickoffs, but as he keeps improving, he is becoming a better option to try field goals for the Falcons.

“Every mistake I made just made me want to work harder,” Mancuso said. “There was a lot of responsibility that I felt like I had, as the only kicker on the team.”

Over the following weeks and for the rest of his freshman year, Mancuso extended training hours by getting to practice early and staying late. He spent months not only training in the gym but also learning how to train. Mancuso studied the biomechanics of kicking to improve and understand which specific muscles to focus on.

Mancuso’s improvement was mostly self-driven; he created his own workout routine after doing his own research, referring to fitness expert Dr. Doug McGuff’s book “Body by Science,” which his dad had given him, to optimize his training program.

However, Mancuso’s mentality saw the greatest growth. Like most kickers, he has felt anxiety about his job, but his confidence has grown through repetition and practicing with coaches. 

The more games Mancuso has played, the more he has learned to trust his abilities. 

“I know what it feels like to fail now, so I’m not afraid of failing,” he said.

Mancuso has also worked with a sports psychologist to improve performance and well-being; his sessions have addressed issues like anxiety and burnout while training his mental skills to improve his concentration. 

Working with the sports psychologist taught Mancuso how to focus on his job as a kicker in isolation, rather than worrying about his holders, snappers and everything else happening outside of his control and in his daily life. 

“School’s busy and stressful,” Mancuso said. “There’s things that happen outside of my sport, but really focusing on getting on the field and putting football at the top of my list helps me zone in.”

Mancuso also set out to Instagram to find a private coach to work with; he pounced at the opportunity to work with a local coach right after his sophomore season, and continues to work with coach Tommy Lee. 

Lee, who punted for Cal Poly, helped Mancuso transform raw power into a more precise and consistent kicking technique, as they worked on aspects such as tempo approaching the ball and foot placement. 

“Working with Coach Lee has been an incredible help,” Mancuso said. “He’s a super positive guy, and knows what he’s talking about. With him, my technique has greatly improved.”

As someone who has watched Mancuso grow over the years, Lee feels pride in the student-coach relationship. It became prominently noticeable how Mancuso transformed his mental game — which Lee attributes to the hard work put into technique and self-talk.

“Victor is about as professional as they come at his age,” Lee said. “He is detail-oriented and process-driven, which you don’t see in many young athletes. He’s one high achiever, and will do great things in the future no doubt.”

Mancuso’s kicking has not only improved drastically in consistency since his first game, but also in power. As a freshman, his kicking range was limited to about 25 yards; these days, he can hit them from as far away as 60 yards in practice. This year, he has accumulated 1,314 total yards on kickoffs, while making 25 out of 26 PATs this season.

“It feels rewarding to see where I am now, because I can look back and see the progress I made since two years ago,” Mancuso said. “But I also want to be a lot better than where I am now; I want to take my skills to the next level.”

Junior Sina Mohtaj-Khorassani, his fellow teammate for two years and now the team manager, said he has admired Mancuso’s growth.

Back in his freshman year, his kicking range was no more than 25 yards; now, Mancuso has grown into a dependable kicker who everyone trusts to hit beyond 35 yards and have the potential to make game-winning field goals. 

“He went from being a JV kicker that many people overlooked to someone we rely on heavily because he’s put in the work,” Mohtaj-Khorassani said. “You can really see how much he’s grown since JV — he’s become someone we can always count on when the game’s on the line.”

Mancuso’s training took the spotlight on Sept. 26 during the team’s home game  against Monta Vista. 

Over the previous three years, he had done only two field goal attempts — only one of which was successful. 

Against the Matadors, he doubled that number in a single game. The first kick went in from 25 yards but was negated due to a holding call; his second attempt in the fourth quarter also went in. It was from 38 yards.  It was a culminating moment, and a validation for all of his efforts. 

“Football’s taught me a lot about perseverance,” Mancuso said. “You’re going to have bad moments and bad games, but you just have to move on. You just have to keep working; that’s going to carry for the rest of your life.”