Pinto secures second Guinness World Record

Richard Tedesco

Mineola resident Craig Pinto has earned official recognition for his second Guinness World Record in as many years after driving 1,000 balls through the uprights from 40 yards in 16 hours last month to build awareness for his Kicking 4 Celiac foundation.

The 33-year-old Pinto, who is executive director and founder of Kicking 4 Celiac, unofficially set the record on a football field in Oyster Bay on Oct. 9, as reported by the Williston Times.

Guinness World Record officials needed to review a video recording of Pinto’s effort to officially verify the record.

In October 2010, Pinto set his first field goal-kicking world record by kicking 717 field goals in a 12-hour period.

In setting the latest record, for number of field goals kicked in a 24-hour period, Pinto missed 500 kicks in the course of reaching the 1,000 field goal plateau.

“I want to challenge the stigma that being diagnosed with Celiac Disease changes one’s physical capabilities. That does not have to be the case, ever,” said Pinto, who has lived with Celiac, a digestive disorder, and Crohn’s Disease, for the past decade.

Pinto hosted a variety of fundraising events to promote his second world record attempt. All proceeds will be used to further expand the Kicking 4 Celiac Foundation’s Scholarship Program, which is set to launch in the spring of 2012. The program, among many of the other new programs the foundation is developing, is being created to help students who may be hesitant to attend a certain colleges or universities based on lack of food options available, or the lack of funds to purchase gluten-free foods on their own. The scholarship will subsidize costs of these foods by awarding the students a scholarship to cover expenses.

In addition to monetary contributions, the field-goal kicking event last month also saw donations of cleats from all around the country for the Kicking 4 Celiac Foundation’s “Cleats 4 Kids” program, which will be donating cleats to various youth recreation and community centers in New York, Los Angeles, and in Portugal, to areas that may not be able to afford the athletic footwear.

“The support from people reaching out was absolutely amazing,” Pinto said.

Pinto, is a former Hofstra University and Pro Indoor Football placekicker.

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