Kick, after kick, after kick. This was the way Djoko Simnjanovskiremembers his 10-year-old son, Brian, in the backyard of his family’sEscondido home, reaching for the glorious game of his native land,Yugoslavia. For many Yugoslavians, no matter where they live, socceris considered the game of champions.
So, every evening after Djoko returned from a long day’s work, itwasn’t to his surprise that he so often found Riste, the older son bya year, and Brian smashing shots past one another into the soccergoal from there to eternity.
Nine years later, Djoko finds his son, a true sophomore for SanDiego State’s football team, smashing kickoffs and punts deep intothe opponents’ territory.
But it must be remembered that before Brian ever strapped onshoulder pads and slipped on his No. 27 jersey, the once 17-year-oldkid inspired curiosity among football coaches because of his soccerskills and amazing foot.
Leading up to his senior year at Escondido High, Brian, a firstgeneration American, was always immersed in soccer.
When he was only 10 years old, he would sit along the sidelines,watching his dad play soccer for a local adult league. He studied hisfather’s moves and envisioned himself making the same moves. Aftergames, they would kick the ball around, sharing time between fatherand son.
“If he wasn’t watching it, he was playing it,” Djoko said. “If itwasn’t with his brother, it was with me.”
One day, Djoko brought home a present that would really spurBrian’s love affair with soccer — a TV cable box.
For hours upon hours, day after day, Simnjanovski would eat, sleepand breathe soccer. The walls in his room became a pin-up station ofportraits and pictures of players from around the world.
But by the time his senior year came around, his interest changedslightly.
One week before his school’s football season started, he and Risteattended a pre-season scrimmage. After noticing the field goal kickerdidn’t pack much of a punch, Riste told him that he should try outfor the team.
“I thought, ‘that’s not my thing, why should I do that,'”Simnjanovski said.
But after giving it thought, he decided there was nothing to lose.He approached Escondido High School coach Nick Rosetta the followingMonday, and asked for a shot as the team’s kicker. Rosetta told himto return in two days.
“I was bigger than the guy they had, so I figured I could kick itfarther,” Simnjanovski said.
Apparently, he did — so much farther, that after his tryout, hewas informed he had one more day to prepare for the season opener.
His season was full of success, culminating with a spot on theroster of the North-South All-Star game, put on by San Diego Chargersowner Alex Spanos. But beyond the individual honors, coming to thesurface was a future.
Because Rosetta is friends with the Aztec’s offensive coordinator,Dave Lay, Rosetta often tossed his talented pupil’s name around whenthe two would play golf.
Soon after, an invitation to SDSU was sent out to Simnjanovski.
“I remember Rosetta saying he had this kid who had a big foot,”Lay said. “He kept talking about him, saying he’s got skills andsize.”
Simnjanovski made the team as a walk-on in 1999 and handledkickoff duties. With a year under his belt, he has added punting(averaging 40 yards while alternating with Justin Sisco), to his listof duties.
“Compared to his first days here, he has made a lot ofimprovement,” said Wayne Dickens, wide receivers and special team’scoach. “In fact, he’s light years better now than what he was when hefirst showed up.”
One constant that’s been there for him is his father and mother,even though his change was a great surprise to his family. Still,they let their son lead his own life, but caution him to learn fromhis mistakes and to move forward.
“It was a surprise,” said Zorka, Brian’s mother. “After all thoseyears of soccer, it was kind of different. All you would see (in thebackyard) was soccer stuff. But now, it’s soccer and football attire.But we are very supportive of him and go to every home game. We arevery proud of him.”
Only a sophomore, Brian Simnjanovski is making his move inbecoming a prominent player at SDSU. Next year, he hopes to bekicking for the stars, booting 50-yard field goals to win games, notjust kickoffs and punts. With the way his luck has gone, that may notbe too much of a stretch to believe, as he’s already recorded a54-yard punt earlier this year.
And it all started with kick, after kick, after kick.
