sky / pooch kickoff

[armyof11]

A lot of teams are going with the sky / pooch kickoff to eliminate returns. Can a player on the kicking team catch the kickoff in the air or does the ball have to touch the ground first?

 

[FBRef]

In college games, yes.

In high school games, no. It's kick catching interference if any member of the kicking team touches a kick in flight before the receiving team touches it. The ball must touch the ground and travel 10 yards before K can touch the ball.