Published: August 19, 2008 11:39 pm         

Herd kicker misses soccer, but is focused on football

Craig Ratanamorn admits it.

He misses soccer.

The sport dominated the first 20 years of his life. It was his love, a sport taught to him by his father, Skone, a native of Thailand.

He was an all-state soccer player in high school and went on to a solid two years at the junior college level. That brought Ratanamorn to Marshall, which gave him a scholarship to play goalkeeper.

But when the opportunity to be the starting kicker for the Thundering Herd’s football team came up, Ratanamorn had a tough choice to make.

The junior from Wichita, Kan., decided late in spring drills to give up soccer so he could concentrate on filling the role vacated by Anthony Binswanger. Ratanamorn drew raves with an impressive spring that included several long field goals.

So he said goodbye to soccer and is now concentrating fully on football.

Any regrets?

“A few,” Ratanamorn admitted Tuesday. “But you have to do what helps you the most.”

For Ratanamorn, that meant dropping a sport he loves but was not a full-time starter. In football, he won the placekicking duties in the spring and hasn’t looked back.

The benefit for Ratana-morn goes way beyond the uprights. He also will scale back dramatically on a schedule that left no room for down time in the month of April.

“Yeah, (the schedule) should be easier,” Ratana-morn said. “There was soccer practice and football practice right after that, and then there was class. We would have two or three (soccer) games a week. We would play a game and then move right on to the next one. With football you only have one game a week.”

Based on his past credentials, dropping soccer was by no means an easy decision.

Ratanamorn was an All-Jayhawk Conference first-teamer after recording 102 saves and allowing just nine goals as a freshman at Barton Community College in Kansas. He was first-team JUCO Division I All-American the following year, when he posted 92 saves.

Ironically, Ratanamorn’s football jersey number is 92.

From there, he transferred to Marshall. In 11 games as the Herd keeper, Ratanamorn was 6-4-1 with three shutouts and allowed 1.20 goals per game.

Today, the preseason spotlight will shine on Ratanamorn and other specialists. The second session of today’s two-a-day will serve as the team’s special units scrimmage.

Ratanamorn is excited about what’s in store.

“We all need it,” the 6-foot-3, 187-pound junior said. “It is something that is really going to help us.”

Ratanamorn, who ended last Saturday’s officiated scrimmage with a 52-yard field goal, has been satisfied with his preseason performance to date. In the end, he wants to play just as much a role in the team’s success as a quarterback or linebacker would.

“I have expectations just like the rest of the team,” Ratanamorn said. “I want to contribute.

“I have goals just like everybody else.”

— E-mail:

gfauber@register-herald.com