Barri Deptula with her parents Dawn and Donald at Steinert’s Senior Day Oct. 19, 2013. (Photo by Kim Johnson.)
In her sophomore year, the talk was “Hey, Steinert has a girl kicker.” As a junior, it was “Does Steinert still have that girl kicker?” As a senior, Barri Deptula was just “Steinert’s kicker.”
And a good one at that. Heading into the final two games of the season against Jackson Liberty and Hamilton West, Deptula was perfect on her PAT attempts, and was 5-for-6 on field goals, with a long of 35.
Her steadily improved kicking ability is not what Deptula will look back on with the most pride concerning her high school football career. That moment occurred before cleat ever met pigskin; prior to her kicking for the Spartans’ freshman team.
“I’m so proud I decided to walk up to that locker room for the summer camp,” she said. “Walking into a room full of guys, let alone senior guys, is the hardest thing I ever had to do. If I ever get a job dominated mostly by males, I definitely won’t have an issue.
“I know people think my proudest moment is the state (championship) game, which is one of the best things to ever happen to me, but without that short walk, I wouldn’t have been there.”
Deptula was a converted soccer player and had a coach who suggested she try kicking a football in seventh grade. She began watching place-kickers on TV and decided to make that short walk, in which “She did OK” kicking PATs, according to Steinert coach Dan Caruso.
Although she never enjoyed watching football on TV, after that freshman season Deptula said “watching from the sidelines gave me a whole new insight to this game.”
Her varsity career started tough as a blocked extra point was the difference in a 21-20 season-opening loss to Nottingham, although Caruso said that was more a case of a bad snap and hold.
During that year, former Dartmouth kicker Carl Romero watched Deptula from the stands and midway through the season asked Caruso if he could work with her. The results were outstanding as Deptula was 42-for-50 on PATS, and she went 4-for-4 in the pressure-cooker Central Jersey Group III title game against Neptune at Rutgers. Romero is making his presence felt to this day.
“Coach Romero’s like my dad out there,” Deptula said. “He comes at least once a week, most of the time twice a week. We get along like daughter and father. We both kick at practice. It’s nice to have met someone who loves kicking as much, if not more, as I do.”
As her leg got a little stronger, she was allowed to attempt a few field goals last year. This year she became a true threat to score three points.
“I honestly knew she would progress as a kicker and of course she was going to get stronger as she matured,” Caruso said. “However, I would be lying if I thought she would be this good. She not only added leg strength but she has worked on her technique so much.
“Her mechanics now are much different than when she started as a sophomore. She worked to get better and is a very coachable kid. We have been blessed to have some pretty good kickers here at Steinert, but Barri is right up there with the best of them.”
The biggest improvement has been in leg strength, but in becoming stronger, she had to alter things to remain accurate. It wasn’t easy, but Deptula was on a mission.
“Barri had grown so much as a place kicker since her sophomore year, as has my confidence in her,” Caruso said. “Her sophomore year she was very accurate but anything beyond extra-point depth was pushing it for her. We had to have a second kicker to kick anything long.
“We do still have a second place kicker, but he is a back-up and has not been on the field in a game situation as a place kicker. Barri has taken control of the job and has turned herself into a legitimate offensive weapon. She is very accurate and has very good range for a high school kicker, period.”
And that’s exactly what Deptula says she is. A high school kicker. Period.
“It’s actually kind of insulting to be known as ‘that girl kicker’,” Deptula said. “I didn’t plan to be it. I wanted to kick. I called myself a kicker and an athlete. I never understood the gender factor.
“I put on the pads, helmet, and even down to my cleats, just like all the guys I walk out with. (The cleats) just happen to be coral and pink,” she added with a laugh. “An athletic kicker – that’s what I am, not what I want to be accepted as.”
Caruso said the word “girl” was thrown in by people outside the program, but not by the Spartan players and coaches.
“Other people would say ‘Steinert has a girl kicker, what a cool story,’” the coach said. “She has always just been our kicker. She is not treated any different than any other kicker we have ever had, and I know Barri wouldn’t want it any other way.
“She is the best around at what she does. Granted she has not had that many opportunities this year because we have struggled offensively, but she’s made every opportunity she has had, with the exception of one against Allentown.”
And that one, which came on opening day, still rankles Deptula. She is proud of her season “minus that first field goal attempt.”
“It was less than 30 yards, I’m still mad about it,” she said. “I’m sort of a perfectionist in everything. Even in school, a 90 isn’t good enough. I would re-do that kick in a heartbeat. All I did wrong was align too head-on from the hash mark.”
Deptula has altered her practice regiment over the years. She spent most of the time Tuesday working on kicks, but as game day drew near she would practice less full kicks and more height and accuracy drills, which kept her legs stronger by season’s end.
Despite her success in putting points on the board, Deptula says there is one regret she has from her high school career.
“I always wanted to lay someone out just to prove girls aren’t dainty flowers,” she said. “I can drop a shoulder, too!”
Perhaps it’s that attitude that has allowed Deptula to fit in so easily.
“Honestly, we have never had a problem with the guys treating her differently,” Caruso said. “She has fit in since day one, and she does everything the guys do at practice in terms of running and conditioning.
“If you sit down and talk to Barri a bit, you will see what a truly great person she is. She is very easy to get along with, and she is very supportive of everyone on the team. If you ask anyone on my team, they will tell you what a great teammate she is.”
That includes making sacrifices on her own statistics.
“I don’t know if I have ever heard Barri complain at practice or in a game when something doesn’t go her way,” Caruso said. “ There have been times I have decided to go for it on fourth down instead of kick the field goal, and I know she has to be disagreeing with me inside, but she will never voice that and will support her teammates.”
For Deptula, the past four years not only provided her with fun, but also with a sociological discovery.
“It made me realize that guys are… cool,” she said with a laugh. “That sounds so bland, but they really are. They’re a lot less high strung and less dramatic. It’s just football, food and girls! Their way of thinking will always be a mystery, but I know that guys are all different. Each has their own personality and characteristics.”
And Deptula would like to discover more of those personalities when she enrolls at The College of New Jersey next year as a biology major. She plans on going out for the Lions football team, who feature her former teammate Jeff Mattonelli as a place-kicker.
“I think Barri has the ability to kick in college, but she will be fighting an uphill battle because there is prejudice there for females,” Caruso said. “Barri is a great student and has her priorities straight. I know she would love the opportunity to kick in college if that becomes a reality, but if it doesn’t, she will go on to get her college degree and become a very successful person.”
In a lot of ways, she already is, thanks to that one little walk.
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