Colorado Football gets new kicker in James Stefanou
Press release from cubuffs.com
BOULDER – University of Colorado head football coach Mike MacIntyre announced Tuesday that the Buffaloes have signed placekicker James Stefanou out of Australia to a National Letter of Intent.
Stefanou, a 6-1, 187-pound native of Melbourne, Australia, will have five years to complete his four seasons of eligibility with the Buffaloes beginning in the fall of 2017.
"James has a big leg," MacIntyre said. "We are excited about having him, he is an excellent kicker and he will have a great career here at the University of Colorado."
Stefanou has trained periodically over the course of the past six seasons at ProKick Australia, an academy developed to assist in the transition to American football by providing the fundamentals of punting and kicking. Alumni of the academy include the last four Ray Guy Award Winners; Tom Hornsey of Memphis in 2013, Tom Hackett of Utah in 2014 and 2015 and Mitch Wishnowsky of Utah in 2016.
He comes from a soccer background in Australia where he has elite level experience as a defender. He represented Australia on its U19 team, a youth progression team that is the feeder squad to the Olympic team. He also played professionally, most notably in two stints for South Melbourne FC, first from 2005-06 before he signed again with them in 2010.
Over the past six years in conjunction with his soccer career, Stefanou learned the art of placekicking with American football at ProKick Australia. He spent the past six months extensively training there, where Pittsburgh Steelers punter Jordan Berry has mentored him.
His long field goal in training was made from 63 yards out.
At Colorado, Stefanou looks forward to studying business. He already has a business background, having worked as a business development manager for a real estate company and serving as a sales manager at a local fitness center in Melbourne during his soccer career.