Mission Valley youth shine at NFL Punt, Pass, Kick competition
Daniel Martynowicz
From left to right: Dad Emosi beams as daughters Adriana and Karalaini Tatukivei show off their Punt, Pass and Kick medals at their home near Ronan.
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MISSION VALLEY — Several Mission Valley children showcased their athletic skills and proved their soon-to-be football star status during the 51st annual NFL Punt, Pass and Kick sectional competition.
Hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Missoula, more than 100 boys and girls ages 6 to 15 from all over Montana participated in the event. The PPK competition began in 1961 and is the oldest NFL youth program. Nationwide, more than 3 million children participate in PPK events each year, making it one of the largest youth programs in the world.
According to a press release, Dawson Dumont of Charlo took third place in the boy’s 6-7 year-old competition.
While the Mission Valley boys performed well, it was the girls who dominated the field.
Adriana Tatukivei, Karalani Tatukivei, and Micalann McCrea — all from Ronan — took home first-place honors and are eligible to participate in the Seattle Seahawk Regional PPK competition. Contestants must now await the nearly 15 other sectional competitions taking place over the next month throughout the Pacific Northwest. The top four sectional winners will advance to the regional contest scheduled for Dec. 8 in Seattle just before the Seattle Seahawks play the Arizona Cardinals.
According to the press release, Western Montana garnered three individual championships in 2010 and two in 2011.
Sisters Karalaini and Adriana Tatukivei of Ronan both participated in last year’s event. Adriana won first place at last year’s sectional and advanced to the Seattle competition.
“I think (Karalaini) is really excited,” the girls’ father Emosi said. “Last year she wasn’t that excited about it, but her younger sister made it all the way to Seattle, so that spurred her on and now they’re both going this year.”
Karalaini and Adriana’s father said the girls’ athletic ability was born of their lifestyle. The family is a member of Youth with a Mission; a nonprofit, worldwide, Christian organization striving to build health clinics, schools and churches for those in need. YWAM has thousands of locations in 180 countries with 18,000 volunteers.
Emosi said the Tatukivei family lived in West Africa for six years, helping to bring food, water and electricity to those in need. During that time, Karalaini and Adriana went from village to village playing in soccer tournaments.
“I feel really blessed for the motivation for them to do it,” Emosi said. “They always like to be outside rather than inside the house. I think that’s the thing I really appreciate about my girls. They don’t know much about video games.”
If the girls continue to win, the next contest after Seattle will be at Super Bowl 47 in New Orleans, La.
“I’m really excited for both of them,” Emosi said. “They both just want to have fun.”
