MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Do you remember those times when you were young and your father made you unwrap the extension cord and then re-wrap it the right way?
 
Or, he took the time to show you how to tie a Half Windsor knot?
 
Well, Kyle Poland was one of those kids who always listened to his father, and his dad's sage advice ended up earning him a scholarship to play for the hometown West Virginia Mountaineers.
 
In late August, Kyle was awarded a full scholarship as the team's starting long snapper, a job Mountaineer volleyball coach Reed Sunahara's son, Rex, handled so effectively for the last two seasons.
 
When the other kids were in the house playing video games, Kyle was out in the backyard snapping footballs to his father, Steve.
 
"Whenever I was young, my dad always explained to me if I wanted to make it to college and play football at a Division I school it would be as a long snapper," Poland says. "I got under his wing and he really showed me how to do things. We went out and practiced and ran with it. That's basically how it began."
 
During each stop along the way, beginning with the Marilla Mustangs, until his senior year at Morgantown High, Kyle was always willing to listen and learn.
 
And the more he listened, the more he learned.
 
"I went up through middle school and high school changing to all different positions and playing basically wherever they needed me to," he said.
 
He finally settled at center and long snapper at Morgantown High, which ultimately presented an opportunity to walk-on at WVU.
 
Playing for the hometown Mountaineers was a lifelong dream for Kyle - and for his father, a West Virginia season-ticket holder. Tucked away in a drawer in the Poland house are photographs of Kyle at Milan Puskar Stadium with tight end Anthony Becht, the late Bill Stewart and others.
 
"From a young age, I was here at all of the home games," Kyle says. "I can remember growing up I've always been a die-hard West Virginia Mountaineer fan so being able to represent this school and this state is just a blessing.
 
"It was a long journey, a lot of hard work and dedication doing all of those early morning lifts that other people don't have to do and doing things to set myself apart from others," he explains.
 
"I was always working jobs in the summers and during the offseasons so my schedule was always full. I did my workouts and my practices, and then I went to work when most of the time people would go home and hang out with their friends and relatives," he adds. "It was just a different path than a lot of people would have to take, and it was something I knew going into it."
 
All of that hard work and dedication snapping in the backyard with dad came to a successful conclusion on Aug. 29. 
 
It was during a team meeting inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility when Kyle learned he was one of the 85 players officially on scholarship for the 2020 season.
 
"We had a team meeting, and I went in not knowing anything. We were on one knee and coach Brown finished what he was talking about and said he had a video for us," Poland recalls. "The video popped up on the screen and the first person I saw was my dad and from then when they announced I was getting a scholarship all of my teammates went crazy. It was just an awesome feeling.
 
"Finally receiving that scholarship was a blessing to me and my family," he says.
 
Poland's blessings have continued during a year when we are desperately in search of blessings. The sport management graduate student married his high school sweetheart, Katie Ferrebee, earlier this summer. 
 
They are also expecting their first child in 2021.
 
"It's been different for me than a lot of people. I got married to my wife, I received a scholarship, we found out we're having our first baby so it's been a lot," he says. "2020 has been great for me, but just being able to be the starter for West Virginia is another blessing that's happened and I'm just so thankful for it."
 
And so, his first time running down to cover a punt as a full-scholarship West Virginia Mountaineer went just about as you'd expect it to go – nerve-racking and full of anxiety!
 
You can insert your favorite emoji for affect!
 
"I snapped it back, perfect snap, and everything went well. I got down the field and saw there was a flag," he laughs. "You get back there and your nerves were rushing because you just had your first punt snap ever in a college game and you have to go do it again and make it perfect.
 
"My nerves were a little high, but I did my job again and we ended up downing the ball on the 1," he says proudly. "I could tell the returner was bluffing (a fair catch) so I knew the ball was likely going to go behind him and I ran around the ball and set myself up in position to down it like we've been trained to do."
 
Now that's he's accomplished a childhood goal, Kyle says the door is open for others to follow in his footsteps.
 
"Being a role model and looked up to by the kids in the community is awesome because that's who I looked up to when I was a kid were these guys running out onto the field and playing on Saturdays," he concludes.
 
This week's Life as a Mountaineer was produced by Sean Merinar and is proudly presented by our great friends at Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration!