Four of Ireland’s strongest emerging kicking prospects will step onto one of the newest stages in American college football this weekend, bringing an increasingly credible Irish sporting pathway into sharper focus.
The final of Ireland’s Kicking King: The Road to Ryan Field will take place at half-time during Northwestern’s game against Iowa on Saturday, November 7, at the newly opened Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois.
Leader Kicking developed the competition alongside Ryan Sports Ventures, with commercial property insurer FM coming on board as presenting partner, and Meta, Amazon Web Services, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre also supporting the programme.
What began in August with more than 1,000 athletes attending ten free trials around Ireland has been narrowed first to 20, who kicked at half-time during the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium, and then to an elite training group of ten.
Four will now make the final trip to Chicago, where the competition will be played out before a live American football audience.
It is a relatively simple contest, but one with much broader ambition.
Leader Kicking, founded by brothers Tadhg and Darragh Leader, has been building a route from Gaelic games and other Irish sports into American football, identifying athletes whose power and accuracy can translate into punting and place-kicking.
Its graduates have already earned more than $3 million in US college scholarships, with more than 20 athletes currently active across NCAA Division I football and the NFL.
Charlie Smyth provided the most visible proof of the pathway when he kicked a 56-yard field goal for the New Orleans Saints on his first NFL attempt in November 2025, setting a record distance for an Irish-born player.
Ireland’s Kicking King now takes that talent identification process and turns it into something more structured, more visible and potentially more commercially scalable.
The partnership with Ryan Sports Ventures is particularly important in that regard.
The sports investment arm of the Ryan family has interests across sports properties, technology and media, while the family itself is a minority owner of both the Chicago Bears and AFC Bournemouth and was the lead donor behind the redevelopment of Ryan Field.
The new stadium, which opened on October 2, has been built at a reported cost of $875 million and provides a fitting American endpoint to a competition that started on local pitches around Ireland.
The Ryan family’s involvement is also rooted in education, with the programme designed in part to open more opportunities for young Irish athletes to secure college scholarships in the United States.
“More than 32 million Americans claim Irish ancestry, and we are proud to be among them,” said Rob Ryan, Managing Partner of Ryan Sports Ventures.
“Thanks to our partners at FM, on November 7, four Irish kickers will be showcased in front of an American football audience to show what they can do.”
The project also has a growing sports technology dimension.
Playermaker foot-mounted sensors and Trackman radar have been used to monitor athlete movement and ball flight, while Oakley Meta glasses captured first-person footage during the Aviva Stadium stage.
That data is feeding into a University of Notre Dame study examining the biomechanics of kicking and, more specifically, how to identify and develop kicking talent.
FM is already an Official Partner of the LPGA, title sponsor of the FM Championship and a principal partner of the men’s and women’s Boston Common Golf teams in TGL. Its athlete partnerships include Rory McIlroy, Lottie Woad and Megan Khang.
“Hard work, resilience and a commitment to constant progress can help people accomplish big things,” said Randy Hodge, Chief Operating Officer of FM.
“We’re proud to support this competition and celebrate the dedication these athletes have shown on their journey to Ryan Field.”
The storytelling around the competition will continue beyond November 7.
A feature documentary, produced by Storyman Studio, will follow the journey from the original Irish trials through Aviva Stadium and on to Ryan Field. Sky Sports will carry the film in the UK, with DAZN distributing internationally, while US and Irish distribution arrangements are still being finalised.
“Every kicker who walks out at Ryan Field started at a free tryout on a pitch somewhere in Ireland,” said Tadhg Leader, Founder of Leader Kicking.
“A few months ago, most of them had never kicked an American football. The talent was always here; it just needed a road to follow.”
On Saturday, that road reaches Chicago.
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Image Credit: Leader Kicking
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